


Still Jack and Daniel Series 4 - The Rainbow Series - Intermezzo II - Deviant Rainbow

by Annejackdanny



Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 4 - The Rainbow Series [7]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Bottom Daniel, Drug Abuse, Kink, Light BDSM, M/M, Valentine's Day, dress blues kink, role play (sort of)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:40:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29425431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annejackdanny/pseuds/Annejackdanny
Summary: Jack and BD are invited to the vice president's birthday party in DC. They take this rare opportunity to get away from all obligations to spend four days of leave at the capitol. Daniel has plans. Jack is going to wear the dress blues. The game is on and nothing is going to keep the guys from playing a bit on the dark side... Or so they think.It's Valentine's Day - but don't expect chocolate and flowers :)Takes place post season 10 and somewhere in season 5 of SGA, the year is 2011.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 4 - The Rainbow Series [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/284580
Comments: 18
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome old and new readers!
> 
> I’m happy you’re here. Please take the couple of minutes to read the note and then you’re welcome to stay and read or give it a pass :).
> 
> For those of you who haven’t read the entire Still Jack and Daniel series and to those who have read it but are not looking for the slash J/D part of it and enjoy the stories for the kidfic contents only:  
> This story is NOT about Little Daniel. While he’s in it (briefly) and while this is part of the SJD universe, this story is strictly adult and very sex heavy. Because, hey, parents get to have fun, too, right? 😊
> 
> If you haven’t read the series but are in the mood for some very explicit J/D action, this is for you. There’s no need to be clued in about what’s going on in the entire series to enjoy this fic because it’s a ‘moment in time’ story, focusing on Jack and Daniel. 
> 
> Some events and bullet points are different in the SJD universe. Janet is still alive, Kinsey is still alive and still vice president and there’s a 14 year old teen Daniel who has been adopted by Jack and who’s cover story has him tagged as adult Daniel’s nephew. In the SJD universe Jack and both Daniels have discovered Atlantis and spent some time there before it was occupied by Doctor Weir and her team. There are references to that in this story. Also, while the fic is set during season 5 of SGA (on a loosely basis) Weir is still in command. 
> 
> That’s basically the ‘need to know’ basis here. If you are curious about the series, you should start with Series 1 and go from there. But I gotta warn ya – it’s a long long journey 😊  
> Now have fun and leave a cookie if you liked it!
> 
> Hugs,  
> Anne

SJD The Rainbow Series

Intermezzo II

(The Things Boys Do II)

Deviant Rainbow

  
  


I

Jack folded the garment bag in half and placed it on top of the pile of clothes in his Flylite Horizon suitcase. Giving the bag the evil eye because he knew it wouldn’t fit, he tried anyway and carefully closed the lid.

Of course it wouldn’t close.

“Maybe take it out of its bag and put it in there again.”

“It’ll get wrinkled.”

“They can iron it for you at the hotel.”

Jack grimaced and pushed down with a little more force.

It wouldn’t budge.

“Crap.”

“You could sit on it. Might break the case though.”

Jack turned his glare to the teenager leaning against the doorjamb. “Did you just call me fat?”

Little D rolled his eyes. “No, I didn’t. I just advised you to be careful.”

“Well, thank you, but maybe if I break the suitcase it’ll get me out of going.”

“Doubtful.” LD tried to hide his grin but failed. “I can’t say I envy you, though.”

Jack opened the Flylite again and pulled the garment bag out. “I can still make you come with us.”

“Uh-huh, but you won’t.”

“Why not?” He opened the bag and retrieved his dress blues. “You know, now that I think about it, it’s really not fair to let Daniel and me endure all the suffering alone...”

“Kinsey can’t stand me,” Daniel quickly threw in, sounding slightly alarmed now.

Jack placed the pants into the suitcase. “Kinsey pretty much hates my guts. Didn’t keep him from inviting us.”

“Because President Hayes insisted you’d come.”

“Yeah, but he asked all three of us to be there. And he seemed to be a bit put out when _you_ declined.” Jack kept the shirt inside the jacket and just folded both into half. The kid was right; he could ask the hotel to iron the suit back into shape.

“Actually, he asked Sam to be there, too.”

“And I’m considering busting her back to the rank of Captain for chickening out.” Not that he could really blame her. Or teen Daniel for that matter. And it had been Jack who had done the groveling for both of them. It wasn’t a mandatory event anyway, but bothCarter and LD had been a bit reluctant to go against the president’s request.

BD had told them not to worry about it and assured them that Jack would take care of giving their apologies to the president.

Good for them that Hayes was an understanding kind of guy. That, and Jack suspected the president was mostly interested in the newest Atlantis reports. He and BD were the most reliable source for that. Aside from Doctor Weir herself of course, who was actually earth side right now. Jack had dropped that hint to Paul Davis when they last talked on the phone.

He had hoped Davis would pass the information on to the president with the result of Weir having to go to the party instead of Jack and BD.

Didn’t work out quite that way.

“Ja-ack...” Daniel’s voice jumped to a high pitch on the ‘ack’ and he quickly shut his mouth and reverted to glowering and crossing his arms over his chest.

“What? You’d get to wear a suit, meet all those high brass guys, schmooze with Davis and Hammond, eat canapés, maybe get a glass of the bubbly…”

“You said the president was very understanding. You told me he said he’d rather stay away, too.” Every word was clearly articulated and there was a slight pause here and there. Daniel’s coping mechanismfor keeping the odd squeak to a minimum.

“Mmmmh, canapés,” Jack homered and finally closed the damn suitcase. “There’s rumor about a huge cold buffet and a giant cake.”

“I’ll have pizza delivery, thank you.” Daniel muttered.

Jack wanted pizza delivery, too. What he didn’t want was to spend the next four days in DC. Granted, Kinsey’s party was only scheduled for one evening, but they’d still be stuck at the capitol for four days going to museums, walking their feet off all over the city visiting war memorials and other historical sights. He had done that, seen it all several times now. Why Daniel – the grown-up version - insisted they had to do it all over again, Jack did not know.

It was so not the way he wanted to spend his hard-earned leave.

He grabbed the Flylite and put it on the floor by the door. BD’s luggage was already waiting for them in Jack’s truck.

Little Daniel gave up his stance of defiance and came into the room. “Jack? You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” He sounded worried now. Not too worried, but a tad perturbed.

Jack couldn’t help but pull Danie’s leg some more. “Are you sure you wanna miss out on all the _fun_?”

“Jack…”

“Relax, Daniel, I haven’t changed my mind.”

The fourteen year old bounced back to his nonchalant appearance. However, Jack was pretty sure Daniel was crawling up the figurative walls of his mind with impatient anticipation for them to finally leave.

“I don’t get why you’re so grumpy anyway,” the teen said, giving Jack’s suitcase a long look.

“What do you mean?” Jack went back to his closet to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. His less than comfortable dress shoes were in the carry-on. So was his camera and his tablet.

“It’s a dress blues event,” Little D drawled.

“And? So? Therefore?” Did he pack the extra dress shirt? Just in case someone at HWS had the great idea to schedule a meeting on short notice and he needed a fresh shirt. He was pretty sure he…

“Seriously, Jack? It’s weird enough I still remember these things, but I’m not gonna spell it out to you,” Daniel huffed, but when Jack spun around to look at him there was a grin tugging at the teen’s mouth despite the eye roll.

Jack snorted.

Daniel shrugged.

They had learned to live with what Jack used to call their Twilight Zone moments a long time ago. Mostly they tried to avoid the awkwardness. But on the rare times when it happened they acknowledged it and moved on.

“Have fun,” Daniel said with a wink and left.

Dress Blues event. There was an opportunity in there Jack hadn’t seen until now. It was kind of embarrassing that LD had been the one to remind him of it.

The sudden memory of the all grown-up Daniel standing over there by the closet one morning last week, brushing a finger down the sleeve of Jack’s dress blues jacket and gazing at the medals lit up in Jack’s mind like a beacon. He had just gotten the suit back from the cleaner and it had been hanging outside the closet to air out and lose the chemical stench. Jack remembered standing in the doorway watching him for a moment. When he had entered Daniel jumped like he’d been caught with the hand in the cookie jar. Jack had asked him what he was up to and Daniel had shrugged and said something about checking for leftover stains or something.

Of course Jack had called bullshit and they had engaged in a bit of bantering which had turned into the start of something hot, but the kid had yelled from the hall that Jack would be late for his 8:00 briefing if they didn’t hurry so the timing had been bad overall.

And while Jack had regretted that they had to leave and postpone any kind of physical interaction until bedtime he hadn’t made the connection between Daniel’s dress blues kink and their DC trip.

He wondered if BD had...

Jack heard the Daniels’ voices in the hallway followed by the slam of the front door. He waited another moment before he walked over to the closet, opened the left door and slipped his hand between two piles of neatly folded towels until his fingertips touched the smooth edges of the wooden box where they kept their toys.

When he pulled it out and opened it, his lips twitched in a knowing smile.

So, Doctor Jackson had been way ahead of him here. But Jack was catching up fast.

He put the box back into the closet, shrugged into his black leather jacket and pocketed his sunglasses, wallet and phone.

The Daniels were out in the driveway when Jack loaded his luggage into the truck. LD threw the frisbee for the dog and BD was looking at something on his phone. He was wearing his favorite sheep skin aviator jacket, the one that looked a bit frazzled on the edges. Well worn. Just like his jeans.

Jack loved Daniel in a suit, but this was better. Much. Better. Then again if Daniel had packed the dark blue suit…

His SO slipped the phone inside his jacket and crouched to give Flyboy his good-bye cuddles. “We should get going just in case we have to change route. Are you ready to leave?”

It was the middle of Febuary and the Springs was covered in snow and ice. Of course the roads were free, but there was always the chance of small avalanches coming off a mountain and causing road blocks.

“Almost.” Jack walked up to Little D and nudged him. “So…”

“I know, I know.”

“Humor me?”

“If I need anything, I’ll call Sam. If I get robbed or attacked, I’ll call the mountain. If I die, I’ll go looking for Oma?”

“Funny.” Jack raised his finger. “I want the house to be in the same condition as we left it. Clean and in one piece. No drugs, no alcohol.”

“Yes, _Dad_.”

Jack raised a hand, fingers waggling, threatening to ruffle the kid’s hair, but as usual LD dodged his attempt and raised a fist instead. “No hair ruffle,” he said sternly. “Behave.”

“I get no love around here,” Jack complained, but gave his kid the fist bump and a high five.

Hair ruffles were a thing of the past. Hugs were a matter of special occasions, but at least they still happened from time to time.

“Have fun. And don’t get high on too much coffee.”

LD nudged him with his elbow. “Does coffee count as drugs now?”

Jack nudged him back. “In your case… yes.”

“Chocolate, too,” BD grinned.

LD rolled his eyes. “Hit the road already.”

Jack rubbed the dog’s back. “You take good care of him, I’m counting on you, buddy.”

Then they were in the truck and there was waving and honking and a moment later they were on the way to the airport.

Daniel leafed through the tickets and checked their passports, then pocketed everything away.

“This is so gonna come back to bite me,” Jack muttered out of habit while he had to admit he was far less worried than he thought he would be. Far less worried than he had been two weeks ago when they had negotiated the conditions of LD’s first home-alone time for several days.

If he had learned anything down this parenting-2.0 road it was that some of his issues with Little D’s journey back to independence and growing up were exactly that; Jack’s issues. Not Daniel’s. Of course some of Jack’s issues were still tied to Daniel’s long adventurous history of finding trouble and death paired with Jack’s goal to nip those troubles in the bud before Daniel stumbled upon them.

Overprotective, with a side dish of PTSD from what had happened to Charlie was what Doctor Murphy called it. Mother henning was how the Daniels referred to it.

But he was working on that.

“He’ll be fine. The house will still be there when we get back,” Daniel said with a grin.

“Yeah? What about aliens showing up to abduct him or Oma paying a visit to ask a favor of him.”

Daniel stared at him for a moment. “Don’t you dare jinx it.”

“I’m just sayin’.”

“Well, don’t just say!” After a moment of silence, Daniel leaned back in his seat. “Nope. I’m confident.”

“Sure, me too.” And strangely enough he was. As he steered the truck down the highway to the airport Jack wondered if he could cajole Daniel into skipping all the sightseeing stuff and stay at the hotel instead.

In bed.

For four days.

The idea was appealing. And Jack knew exactly how to distract his lover from all the museums and memorials.

Dress blues event.

It had been a while since they had engaged in one of their more intense games. The stress level at the mountain had been low, the teenage drama mostly stayed at Defcon 5, neither of them had been in need of pressure release or dealing with anger issues lately.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t do it just for fun.

And Jack was ready to play.


	2. II

**II**

“The Mayflower is a historical luxury hotel in the District of Columbia. It is part of Marriott International and it’s the largest continuously operating hotel in the DC area. The Mayflower is known as the ‘Grande Dame of Washington’ as well as the ‘Hotel of Presidents’ and as the city’s ‘second best Address’.” Daniel lowered his phone and whistled. “Kinsey is splurging.”

“What’s the first best Address? I bet he’s annoyed he only got ‘second best’,” Jack asked, keeping his eyes focused on the traffic as they turned into Connecticut Avenue from Farragut Square.

They had been offered a car with a driver to pick them up at the airport, but they had declined since they wanted to extend their stay and it was more practical to get a rental at the airport right away. No one had batted an eyelid at them spending their vacation together. They’d been friends for a very long time. They had worked out a cover story anyway, just in case. Daniel had dropped a couple of remarks to some people in his department about meeting an acquaintance and old colleague who worked at the Smithsonian while Jack had told Walter at length about how he would spend his leave at his hotel room sleeping, watching TV and eating junk food while enjoying the quiet and peace of LD- and SGC free time.

“The White House is the first address. I bet he’s still plotting… working on his goal to to run for president someday.” President Hayes was on his second term and Daniel was pretty sure Kinsey was already scoping out the competition and making plans to be the next president.

“Yeah. I don’t get why the rat is still vice president,” Jack muttered.

“Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer?”

“Politics give me a headache.”

“Kinsey gives me a headache.”

Jack snorted. “I bet Kinsey is spitting mad that Hayes made him invite us.”

“Yeah, we’re probably the last people he wants to see there,” Daniel grinned. And yet, he was looking forward to this in a way.

There was the upside of having Jack in his dress blues all evening. And Daniel hadn’t had that particular pleasure in quite some time. Not like tonight. Sure, Jack occasionally put on the suit when someone superior from DC visited the SGC, but this was different.

Tonight, Daniel could watch him and indulge in covert operation admiration. And if he got Jack into just the right mood to go along with a little kinky play… He had ideas. And he hoped Jack would want to participate in those ideas.

He also hoped Jack would get a kick out of Daniel’s little surprise for their extended stay. Jack wasn’t a big fan of surprises - neither one of them were - but this one should be right down his alley.

Daniel checked his watch. So much time until the party started.

Maybe…

Jack stopped the rental in front of the main entrance of the Mayflower and as soon as they exited the car, a valet showed up and asked for the keys. “We will transfer your luggage to the lobby. From there it will be delivered to your rooms once you have checked in, sir.”

“Thank you,” Daniel offered.

While Jack handed over the key and received a parking ticket, Daniel drew out his wallet to tip the guy. As the money exchanged hands, the valet said, “If you need a tour guide or anything else, ask for Ed. He’s our concierge and will be available to help you during your stay.”

They were walkng the short distance to the large double doors when a tall woman in a short black coat and dangerous looking high heels came down the sidewalk towards them. She was wearing a white silky scarf around her head, probably to protect her hair from the slight drizzle. Honey-colored bangs lurkedunderneath it.

“Excuse me! Hold the door, please!” She scuttled closer, holding her clutch protectively against her body.

When she had almost reached them, she slipped and Jack quickly grabbed one of her arms to stop her fall. Daniel caught the clutch when it slipped from her grip as she flailed her arms to keep her balance. With his free hand he took her other arm and together they managed to keep her on her feet.

“Thank you,” she huffed. “I’m so sorry, I…”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Jack assured her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Well…” She looked down and when Daniel followed her gaze he saw the broken heel. “Could’ve been worse,” she shrugged. “I have a spare pair of those.” She used Daniel’s shoulder to lean on as she pulled her shoes off her feet, one after the other, broke off the heels and put them back on. “There, no harm done.”

“Let’s get out of this weather,” Daniel suggested and held the heavy door open for them.

The lobby, like most hotels Daniel had encountered, was elegantly simple, decorated in cream, white and golden tones, with small seating areasaround low tables, andthick carpets to swallow the sounds of high heels and hurrying footsteps. There were mirrors on the walls to make the hall appear even larger, the reception desk was polished mahogany and took up the whole backwall. Several glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling, but the lobby was illuminated by indirect lights integrated into the walls and from several small lamps on the tables.

There was a mezzanine with a gallery looking out over the lobby, with a curved wooden staircase in close proximity to the elevators leading up to it.

“Are you here for the vice president’s reception?” She took the clutch Daniel held out to her and tried to stuff the broken-off heels into it, with little success.

“Yes, we are. Oh, I’m Doctor Daniel Jackson, this is General Jack O’Neill.”

“Julia Donovan, I’m with Inside Access.” She frowned. “Doctor Daniel Jackson? General O’Neill? From Cheyenne Mountain’s Deep Space Telemetry program?”

Daniel gave her a non-committal smile and kept walking towards the front desk. “You’re from the press.”

“TV, actually. Fox.” She caught up with him quickly even in her damaged shoes. “I can show you my ID.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jack said. “Have a nice day.”

“And be careful with those high heels. A twisted ankle is a nasty thing to deal with,” Daniel added.

She pushed back the scarf revealing short blond hair. The style was similar to Sam’s. “I would love a couple of minutes of your time, Doctor Jackson. For an interview.” Her smile was engaging.

“Thank you, but no.” Daniel kept his tone friendly, but firm. They had reached the front desk. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check in.”

“Well, I hope to see you at the party later.” She took off in the general direction of the elevators.

“Odd,” Jack remarked when she was out of sight.

“Ye-ah. Maybe we should’ve asked her what she wants.”

“If she’s on to something she’ll try again.”

Once they had received key cards to their separate rooms, they were approached by a tall man in a dark green suit with the Mayflower logo embroidered in gold on the lapel of his jacket.

A sign attached to his left chest pocked identified him as Eduardo Alvarez, Concierge.

Daniel tagged him as Latin with some Asian in the mix.

Whatever his heritage was, Mr. Alvarez was a sight for sore eyes. He was probably in his late twenties, a guy with a flashing smile, sparkling dark eyes and raven black short cropped hair.

Daniel admired the perfect tailoring of the conceirge’s uniform, wondering if the dark blue suit in his luggage fit him even half as well.

“Gentlemen, I’m Ed, your concierge. Welcome to the Mayflower. If I can be of any assistance during your stay, please feel free to contact me.”

As per usual Jack hung back and let Daniel handle the conversation. “Yes. I’m Doctor Jackson and this is General O’Neill. We’re here for the vice president’s party.”

“Ah, let me check my list, Doctor Jackson.” Ed took a couple of steps back to his Concierge desk, whipped out a clipboard and checked a list attached to it. “Yes, here you are. Just remember to bring the invitations down with you for the reception. And remember, during your stay here I will be available for you at any time for anything.”

“Anytime for anything?” Daniel smiled. And maybe he batted his eyelashes. Just once.

Time to fire up Jack’s engines. Push a couple of buttons.

Ed didn’t even blink. “The reception will be held in the Palm Court, the ballroom on the mezzanine. The elevator has an extra button for the Palm Court. Reception starts at 17:00. Guests are required to line up at 17:45. You’ll find all the details of tonight’s program in your rooms,” he informed them. He had a very pleasant voice, deep and warm. A voice to get the ladies hooked, make the guys think Ed was their best buddy and to give elderly folks the feeling of safety and home.

Ed handed Daniel a small business card with the Mayflower logo, Ed’s name and two phone numbers on it in gold letters. “The first number is my desk, the second is my mobile. Call me…” there was a quirk of lips, “…anytime for anything, Doctor Jackson.” With a quick look at Jack he added, “You, too, General O’Neill.” Then he turned back to Daniel. “If you need a tour guide or tickets for theater, opera, concerts… I’m your guy.”

“Thanks, Ed, I might get back to you about that.” Daniel tipped the man generously and received his first genuine smile.

Then Jack walked past them, throwing a, “Yes, thank you, Ed, we’ll take it from here.” back over his shoulder, followed by a very prompting, “ _Doctor Jackson_?”

“Enjoy your stay, Sirs.” Ed turned away to greet the next guests.

Their rooms were up on the tenth floor. They had company on their ride up until the fifth floor. Once the young couple had left, Jack pulled his sunglasses halfway off his nose and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Daniel raised both eyebrows in return. “What?”

“You’re in a mood.”

“No clue what you’re talking about.”

“ _Ed_?”

“Ed was a nice guy.”

Jack snorted.

The elevator stopped and they stepped into a long corridor painted and furnished in the same colors as the lobby. Daniel studied the signs on the walls. “I’m in 1022. You?”

“Next to yours.”

“Convenient.”

Jack smirked. “Yep.”

When they reached their rooms, Jack said quietly, “Check for bugs.”

They exchanged a look and a nod and then Daniel entered the room he would hopefully get laid in properly tonight. He tossed his jacket on one of the gray recliners and took in the ambiance. Simple elegance just like the lobby.

The bathroom was white marble with a shower tub combination and enough towels.

He quickly did the bug check and texted Jack that he was clear. Then he took off his shoes and tested the bed. Not too hard, not too soft. Four pillows and one neck roll, pristine white sheets… Daniel brushed a palm over them. Silky. Nice. Too bad they would have to cover them up to avoid suspicious messes.

He got up again, closed the drapes of the floor to ceiling window and the room was dipped in soft twilight.

He had just settled back on the bed with the leather-bound portfolio containing the program of the evening and the menu when there was a knock, followed by a muffled, “It’s me.”

As soon as he had let Jack in Daniel put the ‘do not disturb’ sign out and closed the door. They swapped their spare key cards and then Jack got comfortable on Daniel’s bed and opened the portfolio.

“Half of what’s on the menu has fish in it. Shrimp cocktail, crab and avocado snacks, crabmeat stuffed mushrooms…” Jack grimaced. “I can’t look at any kind of shrimp or lobster these days without thinking…”

“…Goa’uld,” Daniel finished.

“Yeah. Let’s order room service and stay up here.” Jack tossed the portfolio to the floor and patted the empty space on the bed.

“Did you text LD to let him know we’re here?” Daniel followed the invitation and stretched out beside Jack.

“Yep. Guess what he’s doing?”

“Oh, probably…. skateboarding? Or working on the soon-to-be skatepark.”

“Skatepark.”

“Those kids are determined, you have to give them that.”

The ‘skatepark’ was located in a former warehouse which was part of a larger rented out USAF property. Moving the kids’ skating grounds from Spring Mall to this new venue had been Sam’s idea and Jack had sealed the deal in January. Since then LD and his friends had worked hard on removing tons of junk from their new space. Next on their agenda was to build halfpipes and other neck-breaking skate obstacles.

“Keeps ‘em busy and out of trouble.”

“And makes you the coolest dad on the planet,” Daniel teased.

Jack had been very supportive of the rainbow gang’s new project. Unlike Spring Mall the new venue was legally rented, there was a gatekeeper who kept an eye on everything and other parts of the warehouse were already occupied by a dojo, a yoga studio and a coffee shop.

“You bet.” Jack looked very smug there for a moment. Then he hooked one leg over Daniel‘s. “Change of subject.” He started nuzzling Daniel’s cheek, then nibbled on his earlobe. “No parenting stuff from here on out. Unless he calls because he needs S and R, we’re off duty.”

“I like this new subject,” Daniel agreed, welcoming the joyful little shiver running down his spine when Jack breathed into his ear.

“You packed the toys.”

“I did.”

“What’s on your mind, Doctor Jackson?”

Daniel turned over to face Jack and they started kissing, tiny little touches of lips, a teasing tip of tongue.

“You,” Daniel murmured in between.

“Yeah? What about _Ed_?” Jack gently bit down on Daniel’s bottom lip, tugging, just so, before letting go.

“’Ed? Who’s Ed?” Daniel licked his lip. “You better leave the biting for later, mon General. We need to be composed and… mmmh!”

Jack captured his mouth into a deep kiss, mumbling something that sounded vaguely like, “Screw that party.”

Daniel was all ready to go there… but pulled back and shook his head. “No can do.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame.” Jack sighed and cupped his cheek, tracing the outlines of Daniel’s mouth with his thumb. “Such edible lips you have.”

Daniel kissed the tip of that thumb, then sucked on it. “We’ll have our very own after show party. However…”

“ _However_?”

“You up for a little game?”

“Like what? You know we have to behave like adults until the party is over. We can’t even throw cake at Kinsey,” Jack said with a little pout.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “ _Jack_. It’s like truth or dare. Without the truth part.”

He knew they couldn’t really do it, but he liked keeping Jack on his toes. And he definitely had the man’s undivided attention now.

“I’m listening.” There was a mischievous spark in the chocolate brown eyes.

When Daniel was done explaining, Jack gave him the eyebrow. “Risky.”

“Inspiring.”

“Ye-ah, you going commando in your suit sure is inspiring. And the fastest way to get us both into trouble.”

“Because you’ll be walking around trying to hide your boner in your dress pants?” Daniel grinned.

“Make that both of us,” Jack snorted.

“Ah, but we both know how to conceal it even in a room full of people. Besides, whenever it gets too bad, we’ll make the rounds and talk to Kinsey for a minute. It’ll go away like this.” Daniel snapped his fingers and Jack huffed out a laugh.

Daniel rolled on his back and gazed at the ceiling. “Imagine that. Right under the nose of Kinsey. In a room packed with high ranking officers.”

“And the president. Oh, and don’t forget Hammond.” Jack groused, but that spark in his eyes was still there.

“And you’re the only one who’ll know,” Daniel said dreamily, voice husky.

“Oh, stop it, will ya,” Jack snapped, an edge to his voice. Exactly the edge Daniel wanted to hear.

“Special Ops, Jack. Ring a bell? You’re supposed to deal with all kind of torture. Resistance of mind control…”

“Special Ops my ass.”

“Oh, you can go Special Ops on _my_ ass all you like.” Daniel grinned as he felt Jack’s eyes burn holes into him. “I’m all yours.” After a heartbeat he added. “Safe word as usual.”

Jack was very still beside him for about thirty seconds. Daniel counted them silently. Then he looked at his watch. “Two hours to go.”

“Put it on,” Daniel said fiercely, already feeling his face blush at the mere thought of it. God, he wanted this.

He had wanted this forever and here they were… finally.

“We should wait ‘til after the party with the dress blues stuff.” But Jack stared at him hungrily.

“No. Now. Go.” The words came out harshly. Daniel had been waiting for this. Jack better got with the program.

“There’s not enough time for the real deed.” Jack checked his watch. “Don’t want to rush it.”

“There’s time for other stuff. Use your imagination. You’re not chickening out, are you?”

For as long as he and Jack had been together – the first time around – he‘d had this totally weird kink.

And Jack, who was usually happy to accommodate Daniel in bed, had always been reluctant to put on the dress blues for him. He had done it once or twice back then, but it had never played out the way Daniel envisioned it in his mind. Because it hadn’t come natural to them – role playing, fetish, dress up, toys… none of that had featured highly in their relationship.

And yet things had always been a bit different between them than any other relationship Daniel had ever been in. In hindsight he realized that they used to have some of their most intense sex when they had been utterly pissed at one another after missions gone awry or when they had come home after laughing death in the face. When it had been raw and harsh, bordering on angry and predatory, not sweet and tender. Sweet and tender had always happened afterwards, but more often than not it had started out gritty and aggressive.

Now, all these years later, they both had a much clearer understanding of what they wanted, what was driving them. And they had experimented with toys, figured out what they got off on and what threw them.

They had talked about the dress blues. Sometimes they used Daniel’s fascination for it as imagination in foreplay. But Jack hadn’t put them on for him again. Because it still felt awkward to ‘dress up’ in their own bedroom. They didn’t do that.

But this… tonight… was the real deal. And Jack had just given the green light.

“If we’re doing this, you’ll bottom. No switching tonight,” Jack warned him after another moment of silence.

Daniel rolled his eyes “No, really? I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Just so we’re on the same page here.”

What about ‘I’m all yours’ and ‘safe word’ was so hard to understand? Maybe it had been too long since they had done this. Daniel crossed his arms. “Unless you want me to wear the suit? I’m pretty sure I’d make a great General.”

“Yeah, but I’m bad at this subbing stuff. You’d be laughing your ass off five minutes into it.” Jack said, sounding almost apologetic.

Daniel put a hand over the growing bulge in his pants. “Jack. I’m all in. Go!”

Jack got up from the bed and walked towards the door. With one hand already on the handle, he looked back at him. “Shower, shave. I’ll be back in an hour. Be ready. And… Daniel? You’re going to follow orders tonight. All night.”

“Yes, sir.” Daniel sat up and started undressing.

Jack left quickly.

Daniel smirked on his way to the shower.

They were on the same page.

The game was on.


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to put an additional warning in here. There's dom/sub play with Jack wearing his dress blues. I mean no disrespect to the military/USAF in any way, but if you feel thrown off by this kind of thing, please use your back button and stop reading. Thank you!

III

It was 16:30.

Jack had taken a quick shower himself, shaved and gotten dressed. He had also made a phone call on a whim, called in a couple of markers and used his patented O’Neill charm to arrange something for tomorrow.

Now his mirror-self reflected a very smug grin back at him as he did his tie.

He had been lucky. The suit didn’t have to be ironed. It had survived the flight without wrinkles. All he had to do earlier was put it on a hanger, brush it out a bit with the clothes brush he had packed - and it was as good as new.

Jack had never fully understood the kink Daniel had going for the suit. Daniel said he didn’t completely understand it himself. He only knew how it made him _feel_. Jack couldn’t argue with that. He had his own kinks and preferences. One of them involved Daniel, a straight razor and shaving cream. Another one featured Daniel’s bandana in several wicked ways.

Jack had never particularly cared for the dress blues; they were neither very comfortable nor practical. The badges pinned to the jacket made it clunky and opposed to what he was supposed to feel when wearing his blues – pride, patriotism, heorism, all the yadda – he used to be pretty indifferent to it. If anything, he had felt the weight of some of the things he had done for God and country to have been awarded those medals.

If he looked back on the first leg of his career Jack acknowledged most of his assignments as good solid work. He had rarely been clued in about the mission’s intel beyond a ‘need to know’ basis which had suited him just fine.

He had done what had been required of him. He hadn’t always operated by the book, but he had gotten the job done and given his all to get his team home safe and sound.

When he had gone through the Stargate for the first time he had thought it would be a one-time thing. But what had started out as a suicide mission had turned out to give him back his mojo, his will to live. And once he had done what he knew had been the right thing to do he had retired thinking the Abydos mission had been his last assignment.

Not a bad way to end his career. Not at all.

It hadn’t been until he had been recruited out of retirement though that he realized – somewhere down the road - he had become part of something important. Something huge.

Something really worth fighting for.

The Stargate program had restored Jack’s belief in… well, not humanity probably, he was far too jaded for that, but he had finally truly felt like they were the good guys, fightingthe good fight.

He still wouldn’t put on the suit unless it was mandatory, but he had to admit that his attitude about wearing it had changed somewhat.

SG-1 had been a total game changer for him.

Daniel, however, had been his life saver.

And if Daniel wanted Jack in his dress blues, that’s what he was going to get.

Doing it here seemed a lot more appropriate than trying to put on some awkward show in their own bedroom. Jack just wasn’t cut out for that and neither was Daniel. But today he had to wear it anyway and he had no qualms about taking the opportunity.

He straightened his tie, closed his jacket and tugged at the two silver badges on the left side, above the insignia. The top one, his Master Parachutist badge, always turned sideways while the bottom one, Master Space and Missile Badge, had decided to be upside down. Jack adjusted them and did one last check of himself.

Aside from the hair, which was already messed up again despite the fact that he’d had it neatly trimmed two days ago, he thought he looked pretty dapper, with the blue jacket and tie, the pants in the same color and right down to those uncomfortable but shiny black dress shoes.

Jack knew what Daniel expected of him and tonight he was more than ready to deliver.

While he had been under the shower, he had come up with a scenario that would allow them both to have fun in the little time they had left. They just had to be careful – Jack couldn’t show up at Kinsey’s shindig with stains on his pants.

It would take some of Daniel’s excellent skills to avoid that, though.

No risk, no fun.

Jack was confident.

He grabbed the sunglasses from the chest next to the mirror, put them on and when he softly closed the door to his own room he had left the domestic vanilla part of himself behind.

Major General O’Neill checked his watch.

Daniel’s time was up.

He let himself into the room fully prepared – and kind of hoping – to find Daniel still in the shower or at least still toweling. Or maybe he had ‘forgotten’ to shave… Daniel had two ways of playing sub. The devoted and the defiant kind. And part of the thrill for Jack in this was that he never knew what he would get when they started out.

So, he expected Daniel to take his own sweet time to get ready…

They weren’t following a script here, it was all made up on the fly.

What Jack hadn’t expected was the sight that met him and he almost fell out of his role at the very naked Daniel spread eagled amid those white silky sheets. His eyes were halfway closed, his mouth a relaxed half-smile. One palm was caressing the sheet beside him, the other hand was lazily cupping his balls. Then a finger trailed along his half erect cock. There were still drops of water here and there on his skin, minuscule pools glistening in the light from the nightstand lamp.

It took Jack a lot more willpower than he cared to admit to not just disregard the rules here and be all over him.

However…

“What do you think you’re doing, Doctor Jackson?”

Daniel’s head came up, his eyes opening slowly like he was coming back from a very nice dream. Jack took in the already slightly dilated pupils, the flash of blue. God, he loved that blue. It did things to him…

Daniel licked his lips. “I am sorry, sir. You said to be ready…?” His voice was deep and husky and very soft.

“We have a party to attend,” Jack snapped. “Get dressed.”

Daniel blinked. “Dressed? Sir?” He absently rubbed his left nipple, then brushed his palm down to his flat stomach. “Are you, uh, sure?”

“Am I speaking Ancient again?” Jack grinned – only on the inside though – at the obvious confusion playing out on Daniel’s face as he was trying to figure out what exactly was expected of him. _Not going as you thought it would, huh? Don’t worry, we’ll get there._

“No, sir, but even if you did, it’s no problem since I’m fluent in Ancient.” Daniel cocked his head. “I’m a linguist, sir. I speak many tongues.”

“Then maybe you have a hearing problem?”

“No, sir.” Daniel sat up and came to his feet, standing at attention beside the bed. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Jack gave him a curt nod. “Go ahead.”

“I’m sorry, I’m kind of new to this… I’m afraid you need to teach me the standard procedures, Colonel O’Neill.”

Jack, who had walked over to the bathroom door, stopped and slowly turned around. “ _What was that_?”

“Oh. My apologies.” Daniel’s eyebrows took a V turn. “General O’Neill.”

Jack crooked a finger at him.

Daniel crossed the room with his hands behind his back, shoulders straight. Jack kept his features schooled into indifference, but they both knew he was taking in his fill. It was probably good he was still wearing his glasses. He loved every rippling muscle, every inch of skin, every tendon, every hair and every hard and soft spot of Daniel’s body.

But today he wasn’t here for admiration or romance.

When they were eye to eye… or rather eyes to sunglasses… Jack pursed his lips and looked Daniel up and down. Then he leaned into his personal space and whispered into his ear. “You like playing games, Doctor of linguistics?”

“I’m a geek, so yes, sir, I do.”

“Do you now? Let’s see how you’ll like this one, Geek boy. Turn around.”

Daniel turned on his heels. Jack reached down and opened his belt. When it slid through the loops Daniel’s back stiffened for a moment at the swishing sound, but he didn’t flinch and he didn’t look back over his shoulder.

Jack gave Daniel a moment to wonder what was going to happen next. Then he stepped up behind him, pressing his full front against Daniel’s back, making sure the cold metal on his chest was firmly plastered against bare skin. “You address me by the wrong rank again and you’re going to wear a ring around your cock all evening. No release until we’re back up here. Is that understood?”

He felt the ripple of a shiver run down Daniel’s spine. “Yes, General O’Neill.”

Jack took a step back and adjusted his jacket. “Hands.”

As soon as Daniel complied, Jack quickly wrapped his belt around those strong wrists and effectively tied them together behind Daniel’s back. He made sure not to pull the belt too tight. He couldn’t leave marks on Daniel.

Not yet.

“Face me.”

Daniel turned slowly, biting his lush bottom lip.

Jack reached down and, very slowly, opened his pants, his eyes never leaving Daniel’s now slightly flushed face. He let his pants and boxer briefs slide down over his hips.

“Let’s see how skilled you are with that tongue of yours, Doctor Linguist,” Jack smirked. “I hope you don’t have bad knees.”

“I’m not old enough to have bad knees,” Daniel quipped, eyes twinkling with mirth while keeping a totally straight face.

Jack raised his left eyebrow. “I was going to offer you a pillow. Now… I’m not.”

“Me and my big bad mouth.” Daniel sighed and went down in one fluent movement, strong muscles flexing in his thighs, legs wide open, everything on display as he balanced himself on the balls of his feet before he lowered his knees to the hardwood floor in slow motion.

Jack pushed his sunglasses upwards and left them sitting on top of his head. He wanted Daniel to see his eyes. Then he grabbed his lover’s chin and tilted his head back. “By the book.”

Daniel swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“You leave a single stain on my pants…”

“I won’t. I’m trained to swallow.” A bat of eyelashes. “I’m indeed very skilled with my mouth, sir.”

“Prove it.” Jack let go of him.

Daniel gazed at his cock jutting out from between his shirt tails and licked his lips. “Impressive.” He gave it a tentative lick. “Tasty, too.”

“Get to work,” Jack ground out.

“Shhh… patience, sir.” Daniel kissed the already leaking tip with just a little flick of tongue.

Jack couldn’t bite back the moan. Gawd, that man _was_ skilled with his mouth, there was no doubt about it. Jack leaned back against the doorjamb and opened his legs as far as his pants, that had gotten stuck somewhere bunched around his knees, allowed it. Daniel swooped in without the slightest hesitation, maintaining his balance on both knees with ease.

Jack had to take his eyes off the scene before him to keep himself from coming right there and then. He gazed at the cream-colored ceiling of the bathroom, then at the same ceiling in the main room. He took deep calming breaths when Daniel’s tongue swirled up and down and around his shaft and then Jack had to focus again in order to keep himself in check so that he wouldn’t cause Daniel to gag or pull away.

They were good at this. Brilliant even. But normally Daniel had his hands to guide Jack’s movements. Not today. Today it was all up to Jack to watch for any sign from Daniel for when it was okay to thrust and when he had to keep still.

He was mesmerized by those lips and the working throat, the tendons and muscles in his neck, the way Daniel’s eyes seemed to turn an even more brilliant shade of blue, the thin layer of sweat on his temple. Jack had wanted to keep his hands to himself, but found it impossible to not caress Daniel’s skull, card his fingers through that thick hair and brush away those drops of perspiration.

“Ready?” He gasped out a moment later when Daniel did something absolutely amazing with his tongue and lips. There was humming, too, a deep vibrating tone that seemed to come from way down inside Daniel.

A nod, a flash of a smile around Jack’s straining cock and that was it. With a loud thud when the back of his head hit the doorjamb, Jack came, Daniel’s name on his lips… there was weakness in his knees and he clutched at the doorframe with both hands until the world became less blurred again.

He gulped in lungs full of air and struggled for composure. They weren’t done here.

And Daniel…

Daniel sat back on his haunches, hands still tied behind his back, and looked up at him with a broad grin on his glistening lips. “I bet you’re glad you recruited the linguist now, General O’Neill.”

Jack blinked a couple of times and cleared his throat. “The jury is still out on that one. On your feet.”

Daniel got up just as effortlessly as he had gone down. Jack envied him. “C’mere.” He reached out, grabbed the back of Daniel’s skull and hauled him in for a kiss, getting a taste of his own juice. When they parted he swiftly spun Daniel around and untied his hands. “Tuck me in. Then you can take care of that.” He nodded at Daniel’s own erection.

Daniel went into the bathroom, returned with a wet wipe and gently removed remaining bits of spit and cum from Jack’s penis before pulling up underwear and pants and tucking it neatly away. “I’d do it with my tongue, but this is less messy,” he said with a note of regret in his voice.

“No stains, sir,” he announced, a note of pride in his voice when he returned from disposing of the wipe.

“Good for you.” Jack put his belt back on and closed his jacket. Then he quickly grabbed Daniel by his hard on – causing him to yelp in surprise and then curse - and walked him over to the bed. “Now you can return to what you were doing when I came in here,” he said, giving it a firm squeeze and rub before letting go. “Eyes on me. The whole time.”

Jack made sure the window drapes were firmly closed before he took position there, giving Daniel the best view.

Daniel grabbed a folded indigo blue beach towel that had been waiting at the foot of the bed. He shook it out and covered those lovely white sheets with it. It had been a long time since they had had sex anywhere but at home, but some things were just so deeply ingrained that they were done on auto pilot.

Daniel fixed his eyes on him and took himself in hand. “I memorized all those medals,” he said out of the blue.

Jack was surprised. “You looked them up?”

“Yeah. Research on my…” Daniel gave him a dirty grin, “ _clients_ is part of prepping for the job.”

“Mhhh, just remember I booked you for the whole night. I’m gonna quiz you later.” He fingered his insignia, trailed a single finger down the metal. “You fancy military guys, eh?”

“Air Force. I had many like you, sir,” Daniel rasped out as hestroked himself slowly, squeezing the base in between to make it last longer. But Jack knew he was close. Very close.

“No, you haven’t.” He had wanted it to come out haughty, but it came out more like a sneer. Reminding himself this was merely a role play he added, “By the end of the night you’re going to beg me to keep you.”

“That a promise, mon General?” Daniel whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. “Oh, fuck…”

“Hey! Focus!”

Daniel’s eyes jerked open. “I’m gonna…”

“Aht!”

“You seri…” Daniel squeezed the base of his dick again. “Permission t…o c’me… ?”

Jack chuckled. “Oh, yeah… come for me, show me what you’ve got there…”

He felt as if he was swimming in the intensity of Daniel’s burning eyes. Jack was captivated by his silently moving lips. He could almost hear Daniel say his name even though no sound came from him. He wanted to join him there, hold him, put him back together after he came, kiss him senseless, bite and nip at his skin, take in the musky scent of his cum and sweat, lick him clean…

Jack carefully shifted and adjusted his pants. He had thought if he didn’t allow Daniel to touch him, he’d be safe and wouldn’t get hard again so soon. He was, after all, no young stallion. He fit the category of old war horse.

Apparently his body had other ideas though.

He tried to think of Kinsey, the rat bastard.

_We have to go down there and wish him a Happy Birthday instead of shoving his head into that cake of his and_ _making_ _him choke on buttercream._

The visual helped. Somewhat.

He turned his attention back to Daniel who was on his back, eyes closed, panting and glowing. Jack went into the bathroom, got the box with wet wipes Daniel had had the foresight to pack.

Daniel opened heavy lidded eyes when Jack settled on the edge of the bed and leaned over him to wipe him clean. “Is that my reward for being a good little slut?” he slurred.

Jack raised his scarred eyebrow.

“Sir,” Daniel added, smothering a chuckle.

“You’re good. I might keep ya.” Jack finished and cocked his head. “Maybe. We have to work on the attitude a bit though.”

“May-be? Are you thinking of passing me on to Colonel Davis, mon General?” Daniel looked like the cat that got the cream.

Jack reached over, messed up his hair, cupped his face and gave him a hard look. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Paul is a handsome guy… might jerk him off under the table later. Give him head in a bathroom.”

Daniel liked pushing buttons. And Jack knew he was acting like Daniel had him on remote control. Without warning he straddled Daniel, pushing him back into the pillows. Daniel’s only reaction was a widening of eyes.

Jack leaned into him until their noses almost touched and locked eyes with him. “Might as well let him fuck you while you’re at it, eh?”

“Question is, what are _you_ going to do about it?” Daniel’s eyebrows shot up and his lips twitched into a dirty smirk. He started brushing a palm over Jack’s jacket and fingered the medals. “Let me take this off you…”

“Hands. Off.”

Jack knew he had to make a fast retreat here or they would never make it down to that party.

He took a deep breath, retreated and stood with as much grace as his bad knees allowed him. “We’ll address this later. But I promise you I won’t forget about it. On your feet.”

Again Daniel showed off his ability to hop out of bed and be at attention without so much as a twinge in his knees or back. Jack almost hated him for it. The guy had taken so many hits over the years, but was still in excellent shape.

And he knew it, too.

Jack put a hand on Daniel’s neck, let it linger there for a moment, then he smoothed his palm down his back until it rested on one taut buttock. With one swift movement his thumb slipped down Daniel’s crack, teasing his entrance just so, then pulled away.

Daniel’s eyes bulged a little. “Cruel,” he rasped out.

Jack shrugged. “Get dressed. What suit did you bring?”

“Pick one, sir.” Daniel stretched, rubbed the back of his head, and smacked his lips. “I should probably brush my teeth,” he muttered, then apparently realized he was falling out of character. Clearing his throat he stood at attention. “Permission to brush your cum off my teeth, sir?”

Jack swallowed down a laugh. “Permission granted.”

When he opened Daniel’s closet Jack found two suits. A gray one with pinstripes and that dark blue one. It was a Hugo Boss, night blue, cashmere. Jack’s fingertips brushed over the exquisite fabric of the jacket. The color fit his dress blues.

Perfect.

Too bad they couldn’t continue their little game down at the party. Daniel telling him he wanted to go commando in this suit gave Jack all the feels. He shook his head. It would be hard enough to make it through the evening without being tempted… and he might have to punch Davis’ lights out if he so much as looked at Daniel the wrong way.

The thought was amusing.

But they had never been this kind of reckless before and they shouldn’t start now.

Jack found a gray tie and a crisp white dress shirt to go with it and laid everything out on the couch. Then he leafed through Daniel’s underwear and picked white boxer briefs similar to the ones he was wearing.

He looked at the underwear and then back at Daniel who crossed the room and glanced at the suit. “Good choice, sir.” Then he pulled the boxer briefs from Jack’s lax fingers. “Are you sure you want me to wear these?” The mischief in the blue eyes was not lost on Jack.

“Just… put them on,” he blurted.

Daniel snapped back to attention. “Yes, sir!”

“ _Daniel_. Snap out of it. Time to behave,” Jack said with more than a little bit of regret and went into the bathroom to splash cold water into his face and wash his hands.

When he returned Daniel was in the process of getting dressed. Jack hung back and watched him put on that blue suit and brown Oxford leather shoes. Watched him turn from the beautiful naked slut he had pretended to be into the sophisticated, smart and witty guy he was. He filled out that suit just perfectly with those work-out-honed biceps.

When they were on their way to the elevator, Jack glanced up and down the corridor to make sure they were alone, before he elbowed Daniel and snorted. “ _Might jerk him off under the table_?”

Daniel lowered his gaze, but Jack caught the shit eating grin. “You’re so easy, Jack.”

Jack snorted. “Payback’s a bitch.”

“Bring it on, Flyboy.”

TBC


	4. IV

IV

Daniel sipped on his glass of champagne as he and Paul Davis were making the rounds, addressing other guests with a nod, a smile or a brief conversation.

“Doctor Jackson!”

He turned around and suppressed a sigh at the sight of Julia Donovan. Not that she was a bad sight per se. On the contrary; her emerald satin dress with the strapless floral top seemed to caress her body in all the right ways. The heels of her pumps seemed to be even higher than the ones she’d broken in the lobby.

“Miss Donovan.”

“How nice to see you again. Still not interested?” She put a hand on the arm of the guy standing next to her. “This is Brad. My cameraman.”

“That’s what I thought. He’s… holding a camera into my face.”

Brad gave Daniel the thumb’s up. “Yeah, man, but it’s not rolling yet, so no worries.”

“Uh, okay, let’s not let it roll then, Brad.” He addressed Julia. “I’m not interested, sorry. Are you here to interview the vice president?”

“I got the invite, but no access to the press conference. So, I will do a general story about the party. It wasn’t easy to get an invite in the first place.” She sidled up to him and tapped her glass against his. “Actually, meeting you here is like the cream on top of my favorite cake.“

Daniel knew he probably shouldn’t but took the bait anyway. “Why?”

“Because of what’s going on at Cheyenne Mountain.”

Out of the corner of his eye Daniel saw Paul stepping away from them and pulling out his phone.

“Okay. You got me. What IS going on at Cheyenne Mountain?” Daniel tilted his head, offering a curious mild-mannered smile.

“Not deep space telemetry if that’s what you were going to explain to me.”

“Enlighten me, then,” Daniel prompted. “I’ve been working there for many years. If something’s going on I don’t know about, I’m sure it must be huge.”

“I’m well aware the policy of the government is to deny everything.” Julia’s demeanor changed on a dime. She dropped the charming act and cast him a calculated hard look. “But I’m way ahead of you.”

“Wow,” Daniel said.

Paul was talking fast into his phone, his eyes never leaving Miss Donovan and camera guy. At least Brad had lowered the camera.

“Did you know that every year several billion dollars of taxpayer’s money have been funneled into a secret government project? In fact it’s so secret that the government appropriates the money without the usual congressional oversight, which I think my viewers might find rather interesting.”

“That’s a lot of money,” Daniel agreed.

“And there’s also the question why an archaeologist, linguist and anthropologist is working for a deep space telemetry program,” she pointed out sharply.

“Good point.” Daniel admitted.

“Miss Donovan.”

She turned her eyes on Paul who had joined them again. “And you are…?” She squinted at his name tag. “Colonel Davis.”

“I’m with the Joint Chiefs,” he introduced himself with a wry smile. “I believe the vice president is somewhere at the center of attention, over there. Isn’t that why you are here? To get a story about the party.”

“Sure,” she said, flashing another of those flirty smiles at Daniel. “I’ll see you later, Doctor Jackson.” With that she fluttered away, Brad on her heels.

“Oh, I hope not,” Daniel muttered.

“This is not good,” Paul said. “We’ll open an investigation into her sources. She knows too much for it to be a stab in the dark.”

“Want me to talk to her? See if I can coax it out of her?”

But Paul shook his head. “No. The less attention she gets from you, the better. Let’s not play into her hands. That’s exactly what she wants.”

They watched from a distance as she approached Kinsey’s wife and quickly lured her away from her husband and into an animated conversation.

“She’s smart. Using Kinsey’s wife instead of trying to get in line for an interview with him. At least Gloria has no clue about anything classified. Bob may be a pain in the neck, but he’s not stupid. He doesn’t take his work home with him,” Davis observed. “I’d rather have Miss Donovan removed from the party, but I checked with security and she does have a legit press invitation. We might provoke a scene and that’s never a good thing because it will confirm her suspicions and draw the attentionof the other reporters. Security will keep an eye on her, though.”

“She said something about a press conference?”

“Just a small one regarding the party in a separate room.” Davis checked his watch. “In fifteen minutes.”

“Busy man,” Daniel said. It suited him just fine. The air in here was much better while Kinsey was occupied elsewhere.

After the official reception and wishing the vice president a happy birthday – Kinsey had smiled his ‘I sucked on a lemon all day’ smile as he had thanked them for coming and they thanked him and his wife for the invitation – Daniel and Jack had managed to spend some good quality time with General Hammond until President Hayes and the First Lady had joined them and turned their happy little get-together into something with a certain air of formality.

Of course Jack had quickly managed to get past that formality by engaging Hayes in an animated conversation about fly fishing.

After ten more minutes into this Daniel had been rescued by Paul who handed him a glass of champagne and together they had started to stroll the Palm Court, observing the illustrious party guests including politicians, some Senators with their wives, several members of the Joint Chiefs and other high-ranking officers Daniel had never met or heard about. Paul could put names and ranks to every single one of them as they passed by. He gave Daniel a run down, shared some quick facts and witty anecdotes here and there without ever drifting into shameless gossiping.

Paul was a discreet guy. He was one of those truly good men you rarely came across this far up in rank going by Daniel’s experience while working in diplomatic relations for the SGC. He and Paul had put out diplomatic fires together in the past and they had always been a good team.

“Remember when Teal’c was stuck in the vortex?” Paul said as if he had read Daniel’s thoughts. They stopped at a bistro table and put their empty glasses down. Paul grabbed a new one and took a sip. “Boy, did we talk rings around Colonel Chekov to get him to cooperate …”

“...and then the DHD blew up.” Daniel could see the humor in it now. But back then it had taken a lot of quick and smart talking to keep Colonel Chekov from blowing up as well, along with the good old US of A.

Or at least the SGC.

And many off-the-record vodkas at a bar somewhere in the Springs to keep them in the colonel’s good book. That night was a blur to Daniel. He remembered Jack introducing Chekov to jello-shots and Sam coaxing the colonel into playing rounds of pool. He remembered Paul singing… no, wait… Paul hadn’t been singing Red Army songs with Chekov that night, right?

He had to ask Jack if he remembered any of that.

He had no recollection of how it had ended, but Teal’c had gotten them all home somehow.

“Was I singing Red Army songs?” Paul asked, blinking. “My goodness, I don’t know how we didn’t die from all the alcohol. I puked my guts out for the rest of that night, though. I remember that clearly.”

“Party like a Russian.” Daniel raised his glass.

“Did Hammond know we dragged Chekov off base to cheer him up?” Paul frowned. “We had to do it. That poor guy was so depressed after the DHD blew up. Mad and outraged, and then very depressed.”

Daniel shrugged. “I have no idea. He never said anything, but he might have suspected something by the way Jack, Sam and I showed up for duty the next day. And he didn’t question it when Jack told him he had arranged a transport for Chekov to Peterson’s. I’m also pretty sure Hammond smoothed some ruffled feathers in Washington and Moscow about that incident.”

“Oh, I know he did. Hammond is a great man,” Paul said, raising his glass in a toast.

“The best.” Daniel scanned the room with his eyes and spotted Jack’s lean figure. He had his back to Daniel and was talking to Hammond and a dark-haired woman in a silver-gray dress suit jacket combined with black slacks and high heels in the color of the jacket. She was holding a glass of white wine and kept sipping from it.

Daniel frowned. “Is that…”

“Doctor Weir, yes,” Paul provided quickly and lowered his voice when he continued. “You knew she’s on leave, of course? After all she came through your gate via Midway station.”

Daniel looked around but couldn’t see an emerald-colored dress anywhere. “Yes, I know she’s on leave. She and Doctor Beckett came through last week, we had several briefings together. But I had no idea she was going to be _here_ tonight.”

“President Hayes insisted on inviting her and Doctor Beckett,” Paul shared. “He wanted an opportunity to talk to both of them off the record, to get a first-hand … not a report, really, more like a…”

“President Hayes really likes to read mission reports for entertainment.” A couple years ago when he and Little D had put together the ‘Stargate 101” files and videos for Homeworld Security they had been invited to the White House and Hayes had told them quite passionately how much he admired the SGSC’s pioneer work and that he was convinced the SGC and its front line teams would someday end up in history books along with Napoleon, Columbus and all the great explorers.

“Yes. He wants to hear all about it, so he insisted they be invited to the party and stay in town for a private briefing tomorrow.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if this is really Kinsey’s party,” Daniel grinned. “Did he have any say in the guest list at all?”

Paul laughed. “Oh, Kinsey is getting a lot out of this. He is basking in the admiration of his supporters, can whisper ideas into their eager ears and minds and set them up to fork out a lot of money once election time comes around again. Having to put up with a couple of unwanted guests for the president’s entertainment is a small price to pay.”

“Ye-ah… why is he still vice president anyway?” Daniel echoed Jack’s thought from this morning. “He and Hayes don’t exactly see eye to eye.”

Paul shrugged. “Right now Hayes and Kinsey are good for each other’s agendas. When that changes, things will change.”

“Politics,” Daniel muttered.

“Welcome to my life.” Paul glugged down his champagne and snatched another glass from the tray of a waiter.

Daniel watched on as Jack talked to Elizabeth. Then, as if the general could feel Daniel’s gaze on him he turned around, tapped her elbow and nodded in their direction.

They met in the middle of the room, right underneath the iconic domed skylight, which was now dark of course. But Daniel was sure it was a stunning sight during the day when the sunlight fell into the ballroom onto the blue carpet with the gold patterns and the white columns or the two large murals on the two opposite walls.

“Daniel… Colonel Davis,” Elizabeth raised her glass.

“Elizabeth, I hope you’re enjoying your leave,” Daniel greeted her.

“Oh, you know what it’s like.” She shrugged. “You’re looking forward to going home and then you get home and are bored pretty fast.”

“Yeah, I can imagine boredom isn’t something you experience much in Atlantis,” Daniel agreed. “But being home should at least be relaxing. Reconnecting with family and old friends.”

“Sure,” she said without much conviction.

“You should pick up fishing,” Jack offered helpfully and received a very cool ‘are you kidding me?’ look from Doctor Weir.

“Knitting?” Jack suggested.

Daniel tried not to laugh.

“Pottery! Pottery is a great hobby. You should try that.”

Elizabeth frowned, shook her head and cleared her throat. “Thank you, General O’Neill. Very interesting ideas.”

“Hey, anytime.”

Elizabeth brushed a wayward stand of hair out of her face and set a pair of very determined brown eyes on Jack. “General, what we were talking about earlier…”

“Sorry, Elizabeth, the answer is still no,” Jack said smoothly, keeping the upbeat tone. “But pick anyone else and you can have them. Him. Or her.”

“I’m not interested in anyone else,” Elizabeth said firmly. Daniel had spent quite some time with her on the couple of occasions she returned to Earth. She was usually very collected and cool, but she knew exactly what she wanted and how to make herself heard.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jack said non-committal.

There was some commotion at the other end of the room when it was announced that the cold and warm buffet was now open.

“What’s this all about?” Daniel asked as they watched people milling up by the plates and silverware. He needed to eat something soon. He could already feel the alcohol getting to his head a little.

“You are a popular guy, Daniel.” Jack patted his shoulder. “Excuse me, I think I spotted some non-fish-related food with my name on it.”

Jack walked away and Elizabeth sighed. “I really would like you to join us. I know you declined my first request as well as the other one where I asked you to reconsider. And General O’Neill is flatly refusing to let you go. But you’re civilian. You should have a say in this.”

“I’m needed here,” Daniel said quietly.

“Why?!” she blurted out, throwing up her hands.

“What?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but… the SGC is mostly doing simple recon and first contact now. Pegasus is still the undiscovered country. We need people like you, Daniel. And you have been there before, you know how… BIG the whole Atlantis project is. Don’t you want to return? Imagine all the things you could see, all the new people you could meet… the possibilities are endless.”

Daniel fiddled with his glass. “Look, Elizabeth…”

“I’d like to know who has authorized General O’Neill treating you like his personal slave?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

 _I did, but only for tonight,_ Daniel thought, trying to keep a straight face. “That’s not what he’s doing,” he said patiently.

“Could’ve fooled me.” Then she sighed. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Yes, it was.” He started moving towards the table with the plates.

“Why is he holding you back?” She was like a dog with a bone.

“He is not holding me back.” Daniel didn’t want to have this conversation. He liked Elizabeth and he was pretty sure she would understand. But he didn’t feel in any way obligated to explain his reasons to her, especially not here and now.

“I’m pretty certain if Daniel really wanted to join the Atlantis expedition he knows which strings to pull to get past General O’Neill’s resistance,” Paul remarked.

“I would.” He grabbed a plate and a set of cutlery – finest silver, rolled up in an apricot colored napkin tied together by a white ribbon. “Now that Midway station is properly working, I can visit,” he offered. He and Jack had already talked about this. Maybe he could take the kid. All provided the Wraith kept their distance for a while after their last round of attacks. “But at this point I can’t commit to any long-term assignment on Atlantis, I’m sorry.”

She nodded and took her own plate. “I see.”

“You do have an excellent team at your hands, Elizabeth, you don’t really need me.”

“I do and there’s no doubt about it, but even after almost five years there’s still so much to do. The Wraith conflict is often our first priority so we have to put everything else on the back burner. We could use anyone with Ancient expertise.” She shrugged and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, sometimes I think the military part of the Stargate program doesn’t see your huge potential and that would be a shame.”

“As Paul rightfully pointed out, I would find a way to join you if that’s what I really wanted.” Daniel focused on the bowls of fancy salads, caviar, cheese balls, avocado bruschetta and other appetizers.

“Point taken,” she said with a smile of regret. “I need to find Carson. Last time I saw him the President was bombarding him with questions. I think it’s time to rescue the poor doctor.”

“They put out tables and chairs on the mezzanine’s gallery above the lobby. It’s much less crowded there,” Paul suggested.

“That’s a great idea, thank you, Colonel Davis. These kind of parties are just not my thing. You’d think as someone who is used to these kind of events… or was used to them before I moved to Pegasus… I’d be happy like a clam here, but it’s quite the opposite.” She grimaced.

“Oh, I hear you,” Daniel muttered as he watched her leave.

“She’s not wrong, you know,” Paul said thoughtfully when they were back to choosing appetizers.

“About what?” Daniel settled for avocado bruschetta, cheeseballs and bolognese polenta nests. Then he went for some sliced baguette and two different dips.

“Atlantis.”

 _Oh, no. Not you, too._ “I was in Atlantis. Several weeks. I was the first who actually set foot into the city.”

“Yes, but now it’s an occupied thriving place. Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“I’m all up to date with any footage they have been sending over the years.” Daniel eyed something that looked like cold chicken salad. But it could as well have been shrimp salad. It was something smothered in lots of mayonnaise.

Paul looked at it with disdain. “That looks… disgusting.” He picked his food with care. A little caviar, a little bit of salmon, some olives with feta cheese, lobster salad.

Once they had collected their appetizers they walked toward one of the Palm Court exits leading out to the mezzanine’s gallery when all of a sudden the vice president crossed their way. He stopped, a fake smile plastered to his face. “Ahhh, Doctor Jackson! I hope you’re enjoying the party.” With a nod at Paul he added. “Colonel Davis, we haven’t had the opportunity to talk yet. My apologies, everyone is after me tonight.”

Paul raised his new glass of champagne he had snatched from a waiter’s tablet on their way out. “This is your special day, Vice President Kinsey. You are supposed to be everyone’s favorite today.”

Daniel raised his glass as well. “Nice party, Vice President.”

Kinsey’s narrowed cold eyes assessed him. “I was just talking to your General O’Neill and it came to my attention that _child_ …”

Daniel frowned. “Child? You mean my nephew? Daniel? He’s going to be fifteen this summer.”

Kinsey rolled his eyes. “Whatever… Is it true that the boy is actually going off world again? With General O’Neill you never know if he’s having a serious conversation or displaying his twisted sense of humor.”

“Occasionally, yes. He isn’t assigned to any team. I’m usually with him and he’s working as my assistant. It’s all cleared by the IOA.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. A teenager! Going off world!” Kinsey scoffed. “There has to be a safety protocol prohibiting that!”

“Not that I’m aware off. He underwent all the mandatory training, too,” Paul said tightly.

“We will see about that!” Kinsey huffed and stalked off.

“What the he… y.” Daniel shook his head.

“Don’t worry about him.” Paul shrugged it off. “He’s just an old moody man with a bitter mind and a taste for stirring trouble.”

“Yeah, well, that maybe so, but if that sleezeball is threatening Daniel in any way he’s going to regret it.”

“Daniel’s position at the SGC is very unique, but he’s contributing outstanding work and the IOA has the highest respect for how General O’Neill and the senior staff is handling the situation of having a kid on base. Besides,” Paul chuckled, “I bet there’d be an uprising at the SGC if someone tried to mess with LD. From what I gathered the kid is pretty popular.”

“He has a fanbase,” Daniel admitted. He made a mental note to tell Jack about Kinsey’s complaints.

They went out on the gallery where it was quieter and a bit cooler than inside the Palm Court and chose a free table. Beneath them the lobby was still buzzing with people coming and going.

“How is Colonel Carter? And Teal’c? I was hoping to see them tonight,” Paul steered the conversation away from Kinsey.

“Teal’c is currently on Dakara. There’s always some commotion and unrest in Jaffaland as Jack likes to call it. Teal’c, Bra’tac and the High Council have their hands full. But he’s visiting. He was here for Catherine’s first birthday last fall.” They had been introduced to some very interesting Jaffa rituals for a child’s first birthday celebration. Sam had drawn the line at shaving her daughter’s head and drawing symbols of blessings for her path of becoming a strong warrior on her body. The drinking game for the adults had been fun, though.

Paul laughed when Daniel told him about that. “I never tagged Colonel Carter for the motherly type. She seems very happy though. General Hammond showed me a couple of pictures of her and Catherine a while back.”

“She’s doing an amazing balancing act, working and being a mom. Both of them are, actually. Pete’s a very devoted dad.”

“It’s been way too long since I dropped by the SGC. I only get the news through the grapevine these days,” Paul said. “Not that I want you guys to be the trouble magnet of the galaxy again, but some of the most thrilling and intense moments of my career are connected to SG-1. And not all of them were life and death situation.”

They clinked glasses. “To good friends,” Daniel said.

“I’ll drink to that.” Paul finished his champagne and their eyes met across the table. “Daniel, we’ve been friends for a very long time. If there’s anything I can do to…”

“Paul, I don’t want to go to Pegasus. And IF I wanted to go, I would get there, believe me.” He wished people would stop thinking they knew what he wanted or what was in his best interest. It had taken years to – sort off - break Jack of that habit and Daniel didn’t have the patience or the desire to listen to this.

“That’s not what I…” Paul put his glass down and looked back over his shoulder. Then he shook his head. “Never mind. It’s great to see you.”

“Likewise. We should catch up more often,” Daniel agreed, glad the subject was off the table.

The waiter approached and Paul ordered Chardonnay. Daniel settled for Merlot.

He did a quick check of their surroundings, more out of habit than anything else. Most people were still at the buffet. But a couple of tables away was a group of four very elegant ladies sipping cocktails and – probably – gossiping in hushed voices. One of them was Julia Donovan. When she noticed him looking over she raised her glass at him.

Daniel ignored her.

And there, in a far corner at a table for two, he spotted General Hammond in deep conversation with one Jack O’Neill. Daniel knew both men very well and while their body language didn’t say ‘danger’ or ‘crisis’, he knew they were discussing something beyond small talk. Jack was attentive, focused, in a way he only was in briefings that needed him to be fully present.

Paul was talking about the food and that he would like to take Daniel on a gourmet tour through DC’s fanciest restaurants some time...

On the other end of the gallery Jack sipped from a glass. Probably whiskey. Hammond nodded and stood, patted Jack’s shoulder and left.

A moment later Miss Donovan pushed back her chair and left as well. Daniel wondered briefly if she was following Hammond to ask him for an interview, too.

“That woman is rubbing me the wrong way,” Paul said. “Of course all reporters tend to do that, but this one’s sneaky.”

“Aren’t they all?” Daniel didn’t have a lot of experience with the press. But he knew he had to stay clear of them and not give them an inch.

“Not all of them. Some are pretty straight forward. I prefer those over the sneaky ones.” Paul scowled. Then he relaxed and pointed at his plate. “Let’s dig in.”

Daniel started eating but caught himself looking over to where Jack was finishing his drink. Then the general turned his head to look straight at him.

“Daniel?”

Daniel blinked and turned to Paul. “Sorry… ?”

“This caviar is pretty good.” Paul raised a tiny spoon full of it. “But you haven’t eaten real caviar unless you tried it on toasted brioche rounds with creme fraiche. I know a place that makes them perfectly.”

“Yeah, I’m not into caviar, really. But the food here is excellent. You should try the bruschetta. Since Kinsey didn’t cook himself, I’m pretty sure they’re not trying to poison us,” Daniel joked, trying to keep his focus on Paul.

Across the room Jack started typing on his phone.

“Yeah, the food is okay, but I like the present company a lot, too,” Paul said.

“Sure, me too.” Daniel reached for his own phone when it started vibrating in his pocket. It was the prepaid phone, the one they used for private texting, not the one with the SGC on speed dial.

He expected Jack to let him know what Hammond had wanted to discuss. Instead Jack’s text read; h _aving fun over there?_

Daniel frowned. With a sideways glance he made sure Paul was occupied with his caviar again before he replied; ha _ving the time of my life. You?_

Jack’s reply came right away; _Davis is ogling you._

Daniel was pretty sure the only thing Paul was ogling was his food, but he had to smile as he typed; a _s you noted earlier, I’m a popular guy._

He hit ‘send’, deleted the conversation, put his phone away and dipped his bread into the cranberry and goat cheese paste on his plate. He took a bite and licked cheese off his lips, all the time locking eyes with Jack.

Then he quickly reined himself in and focused on his plate.

It bordered on extreme stupidity to play this kind of game here.

Except it was the most thrilling thing he had done in… oh, quite a while. And if Jack was feeling a bit territorial, he would deliver a brilliant performance later.

What they had done earlier had been a much better appetizer than all this food. And Daniel was expecting some hard and fast action once the party was over.

Paul stopped Daniel’s dangerous train of thought by engaging him in conversation about DC’s best restaurants and clubs. Daniel refused to let himself look over at Jack again even though he was pretty sure Jack was observing them.

Instead he leaned back in his chair and gave Paul his full attention. Davis was a witty guy, easy to talk to. Unlike Jack, Davis was an avid reader, especially historical military literature. But he was also interested in art and architecture. Daniel had always enjoyed spending time on a plane with him because being with Paul was never boring and they always found subjects to talk about. And, like Daniel, Paul loved to cook.

He wasn’t bad on the eyes either.

 _Davis is ogling you._ Jack and his jealous streak.

And yet…

Suddenly Daniel realized how attentive Paul’s gaze was, how warm. And how inquisitive. Something about how the other man’s eyes lingered on him was different.

“General O’Neill mentioned you’re staying in the capitol for a couple of days. He said you’re meeting with an old colleague. Any other plans?” Paul’s voice was neutral, relaxed. But Daniel could sense that certain tension when the mood changed from easy and carefree to something else.

And from Daniel’s point of view this _something_ was very disconcerting.

He concentrated on taking a bite of his avocado bruschetta without dropping all the avocado pieces on his suit. Once he had chewed, swallowed and put the bread down again he replied, “Actually, I have some private errands to run. Jack and I will meet up again in three days to take the flight home together. I’ll be pretty busy until then.” As an afterthought he added. “Maybe the three of us could meet for lunch before we take off on Tuesday.”

Best way to straighten him out without being unkind. They were, after all, friends. And Daniel wasn’t quite sure if he was reading the signs right or if he and Jack had been so emerged in their little play earlier, that he was still feeling the aftermath of that.

“The three of us,” Paul echoed slowly, then nodded. “Sure, why not. Okay.” He took a large sip from his glass.

“A threesome... thing?” Jack’s voice caused Paul to gag on his wine. Daniel quickly held out one of those apricot-colored napkins to him and Jack slapped Paul’s back until the slight coughing fit was over.

Daniel poured him water from the carafe on the table.

“Thanks,” Paul wheezed. “Sorry.”

“Jack thinks it’s funny to sneak up on people and scare them to death,” Daniel said apologetically.

Paul grimaced. “I know. Very funny, General.”

“You’ll live, Davis.” Jack pulled a chair over from another table and sat down to Daniel’s right side, eyeing his plate. “Are you going to eat that?”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Get your own.”

Jack patted his stomach. “Already have.”

“Paul and I were just talking about having lunch on Tuesday,” Daniel explained. “We could meet somewhere on our way to the airport. Maybe Mexican?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jack said lightly. His look said something along the lines of; a _re you serious?_

“Great. I’ll make reservations and call you. When does your flight go?” Paul was all upbeat and smooth again, pulling out his phone, taking notes of their flight time and suggesting a couple of places where they could eat.

They had just returned to their food when General Maynard showed up and asked Paul to join him for a moment. “Hold the space for me, Daniel,” Paul said and added in a perfect Terminator voice, “I’ll be back.”

“What’s with him?” Jack asked once they were alone.

“Too much champagne. And wine on top of it.”

“He was coming on to you.” It wasn’t an accusation. Jack sounded actually a bit worried. “You’d think he’d know better than to do that here of all places.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Daniel shrugged it off.

“Was.”

“Was n…”

“Stop that.”

“What?”

“Sometimes you’re worse than mini-you,” Jack grumbled.

“Look, who’s talking. And besides, LD and I share the same DNA,” Daniel grinned. Then he sobered and lowered his voice. “Don’t worry about Davis. I don’t know how many glasses of champagne he’d already had before we met tonight, but he was downing them pretty fast over the last hour or so. I guess the best way to endure Kinsey is to be drunk.”

“Ye-ah, being drunk doesn’t do Davis any good,” Jack muttered. Then he eyed him suspiciously. “What about you?”

A couple of tables away from them the group of gossiping ladies rose to their high heeled feet and moved out – probably to tackle the buffet.

The gallery was empty except for them. Music, chatter and laughter floated out to from the ball room.

“What about me?” Daniel picked up his glass and took a sip. He’d only had two glasses of champagne before the wine, but he liked Jack’s glowering look.

Jack waved at his plate. “Is this all you had for dinner?”

“Yes, but I had a…” Daniel dropped his voice down to a whisper. “...protein shake earlier. Milked you dry.”

“ _Daniel._ ”

“Jack.” He picked up his bruschetta, licked one of the avocado pieces and sucked it into his mouth. “So good, you should try it.”

“No more alcohol for you.”

“Was that an order?”

Jack’s eyes were fixed on the entrance to the Palm Court, his lips barely moving. “Will you stop…”

“Actually, I’m not doing anything. I’m just sitting here, eating my dinner.” He picked up his knife and tried the other dip, something with bell peppers and dried tomatoes. He spread it on a slice of baguette. “Elizabeth accused you of treating me like your personal slave.”

“ _What?_ ” Jack’s face was a priceless mix of shock and annoyance. And there was a bit of color in his cheeks. He regained control pretty fast, but Daniel couldn’t smother a smirk.

“Me. Your slave.” Daniel ate this bread. “Oh, Jack, really… it’s…” Very spicy. “... hot.” He huffed a breath and cleared his throat. At least he wasn’t doing a rerun of Paul’s coughing fit. He was used to spicy food, it had just taken him by surprise.

“For cryin’ out…” Jack poured him a glass of water and Daniel drank in large gulps. “Serves you right, slave boy.”

Daniel snorted.

Jack poured him more water and leaned into him, whispering. “Daniel, so help me, if you’re going to fall asleep on me later because you’re drunk…”

“I won’t.” Sleep was overrated. Daniel could go without sleep for 48 hours if needed. He was the king of pulling all-nighters. Jack should know this. “I’m not drunk.”

“Please keep it that way, okay?”

“You know I’m following orders tonight. Not requests.”

Jack sighed, then took Danie’s glass of wine away, out of his reach. “Fine, I’ll make it an order. And here’s another one; stop with the food porn show.”

Daniel grinned.

“Company,” Jack hissed sharply.

Daniel took another drink of his water, turned back to his plate and continued to eat calmly and without missing a beat. By the time Paul settled back at their table and Elizabeth, with help from Carson Beckett, moved a second table and chairs over to them, Daniel’s pulse was back to normal and he had no problem getting up from his chair and shaking Beckett’s hand.

Beside him Jack was composed and immediately started teasing Beckett by asking him if he had sent Ancient drones after superior officers lately or blown up anything using the Ancient char.

But he stayed firmly seated.

“I am never going to live that down,” Carson sighed.

“Look at it this way – it makes for a good story at boring parties,” Elizabeth smirked.

“Aye. Only parties with people who have clearance to know about this. Otherwise I’d have to shoot all the guests after I told them.”

Jack patted Carson’s back. “I like the attitude, lad.”

There was laughter and more drinks. Daniel stuck to water and so did Jack, but no one else seemed to notice.

Much to Daniel’s surprise they continued to be pretty much undisturbed out here on the gallery. There wasn’t much going on down in the lobby now either. Apparently Check-in had slowed down for today. At some point General Hammond joined them, stating he was through with the small talk, hand shaking and smiling like an idiot.

Daniel wished Sam and Teal’c were here to be part of their little contingent tonight. Sam had actually been invited, but declined. She had used her daughter as an excuse because Pete was out of town and according to her there was no babysitter available. In other words she had chickened out of going and when Jack had called her on it she hadn’t even denied it.

The waiter put a cup of coffee in front of Daniel. He checked his watch. It was getting late. He really wanted to get laid soon.

Next to him Jack was on his phone, texting him again.

Daniel waited a couple of minutes to make sure it wasn’t so obvious, then pulled his phone out and looked at the text, covering the screen with one hand.

_Excuse yourself and leave. Get naked. Open and plug yourself up, no shower though. Wear a condom, face the wall. Don’t touch yourself. And before all that, do another bug check, just in case._

Daniel swallowed. And deleted the message. Then he sat there staring at his phone for another couple of seconds, somewhere between infuriated with Jack and almost painfully horny.

When he felt that it was safe to raise his head he met a pair of intense brown eyes. _That’s what you get for messing with me._

Daniel exhaled and took a large drink of his cold water.

_Point taken, mon General._

_TBC_


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of additional warning for this chapter: dom/sub play, more of the dress blues kink stuff going on :)  
> And it gets messy - sex is a messy thing and there's going to be some messy-ness in here. Also, I did research on all this, but I'm not an expert in anal peneration, cock rings and plugs, so all mistakes regarding how this plays out are mine, please be gentle.
> 
> Also, there's drug abuse in this (date rape drugs) and if you are a big fan of Paul Davis, my apologies. I promise to put him back the way he was when I took him. I feel sorry for him, but this is how it wanted to be written "g"
> 
> Oh, maybe you could say there is a kind of hommage in here to Anaise's "The Doctor Jackson Diaries". Those of you who have read them will know what I mean :D The Diaries will remain one of my all-time favorite fics. My intend was not to copy, but to honor it.

V

Jack kept one eye on his watch. The cake, the happy birthday song and all the mayhem was scheduled for midnight.

He really could do without this whole charade.

23:30 sharp.

Daniel had gone from drinking water to coffee around 23:00. Jack had settled for a Coke Zero which he had been sipping on for the last thirty minutes now. He wasn’t tired and he was pretty sure neither was Daniel, but caffeine still helped to keep the adrenaline flowing.

Though Jack’s text was taking care of that, too. Yeah, well, slave boy. Two could play that game.

 _Yep, great move, O’Neill_. _Not._

They really had to get out of here soon. They had both been way too reckless tonight. Time to get it out of their system before one of them did something they both might regret later.

Daniel and his stupid game of dare…

Except Jack had eagerly taken the bait and played right along. Because he had been deluded enough to believe they could go through this shindig totally composed and detached… after getting themselves all excited and overstimulated right before they had to come down here.

Like some hormone driven teenagers. _I’d slap my kid upside the head if he was acting the way we are tonight._

He cringed.

Weir had started yawning a moment ago and Beckett probably had a bit too much of the whiskey he was glugging down. He kept showing Jack the same photos of his baby turtles over and over again.

And Colonel fucking Davis?

He was nipping on his Chardonnay, totally lost in the sight of Doctor Jackson, listening to the entertaining story of how said Doctor Jackson had explored the City of the Ancients like Indiana Jones.

In the ballroom the noise level was loud enough that it was pretty certain no one in there would be able to listen in on them. Apparently people had started dancing.

And the Rita Skeeter wannabe wasn’t anywhere in sight either. Jack had kept an eye on her. She hadn’t approached him tonight, but he had seen her sneak around Daniel a couple of times. He hoped she had left already or was in the thick of it there with Kinsey. He didn’t care, just as long as she stayed away from them. The media and the SGC never mixed well.

Jack glared at Davis who was oblivious to the world because he had only eyes for Daniel. Oh, he was subtle. He didn’t openly stare. He was too discreet for that. His gaze was on his drink as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world, but he was _admiring_ Daniel from underneath his eyelashes.

A waiter approached their table, carrying a tray with a huge glass. “Doctor Jackson?” When Daniel raised a hand, the guy pointed at the drink. “This is for you.”

Jack and Daniel exchanged a confused look. The waiter put the glass, filled with something that varied from yellow to orange to red in color, in front of them. There were pineapple pieces, a strawberry and a kiwi slice attached to the glass.

“To whom do I owe this?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know. A colleague passed the tray on to me with the order to specifically have the Mai Tai delivered to Doctor Jackson. Probably an admirer.” The guy turned to the rest of the group. “Anyone else want to order something while I’m here?”

Hammond ordered another Scotch. The man didn’t appear drunk at all except for his Texan accent broadening with every passing hour.

Jack wondered if Hammond had noticed Davis’ affection for his glass of wine.

Jack nudged Daniel’s knee with his. _Time to go, Prince Charming._

But it was Weir who excused herself first. “It was very nice to see all of you. Thank you for turning this into a very lovely evening.” She smiled at Jack. “Daniel said while you won’t give him to me permanently, I may borrow him from time to time.”

Jack raised his eyebrows at her. “I’m sure that can be arranged. But you have to send him home in one piece.”

“And alive,” Hammond threw in with a warm smile. “That would be top priority.”

“Absolutely.” Jack glanced at Daniel who looked as if he wasn’t sure whether he should be flattered because they valued him this much or feel insulted because he thought they were questioning his ability to keep himself alive.

Clearing his throat, Jack added. “No, seriously, Elizabeth. It’s totally up to Daniel. As long as we are not in a crisis that requires his expertise he can visit.”

Weir’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. What was it with Daniel and everyone becoming his biggest fan sooner or later? Right. Jack probably shouldn’t be the one wondering about this.

Beckett joined his commander, they said their goodnights and then it was just them. Even Davis had come back from Daniel-land. He looked at the cocktail. “That looks great.”

“You want it? I’m totally stuffed. I can’t drink that,” Daniel offered.

Paul sighed. “I really shouldn’t.”

Daniel shrugged, grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair as he surged to his feet and quickly slung it over one arm so it was covering the front of his pants. “I’m off, too. I really don’t want to watch Kinsey getting birthday wishes. Or cake. And I don’t think he’s going to miss me in there.” He stretched his back a little and yawned. “I’ll see you at breakfast then. Good night, Paul. General. Jack.” With a nod at all of them Daniel left, taking the small side stairs at the end of the gallery down into the lobby instead of walking back to the elevators on the other side ofthe Palm Court.

Hammond’s scotch arrived and the general picked it up and rose to his feet. “Gentlemen, I’d rather stay out here with you. But I need to be seen in there when Kinsey cuts the cake.”

“Who knows, maybe he’ll accidentally cut off a couple of his fingers,” Jack said and, at Hammond’s low chuckle, added. “Wishful thinking on my part, sir.”

“ _George_ , Jack. It’s George.” The older man shook his head and sighed. “I miss you people.”

“Likewise,” Jack said, meaning it. “Enjoy your cake.”

George raised his glass. “I can’t stand those sugary sweet cakes with tons of icing. That’s why I needed another one of these.” He looked at Jack and winked. “Jack, I’m not supposed to say this… well, I can’t say this as your superior officer. But as your friend I think I already know your answer to what we talked about earlier and it’s a good choice.”

“Hank Landry is good man,” Jack said.

Hammond nodded. “He sure is. But he doesn’t have your experience. It would have been an honor to work with you again, Jack.”

Jack snorted. “Are you serious? You must have a very selective memory then, sir… George.”

The general chuckled. “Oh, my memory is just fine, son.” Then he frowned. “I’m sure the two of you can just blow this joint and get out of here. If anyone asks, I’ll cover for you.” With that he emptied his glass and left.

Jack watched Hammond walk away and enter the Palm Court. As if he was totally sober. Like a rock.

Then it was just Jack and Davis.

For a moment they assessed each other silently.

“You are going to say no? Seriously?” Davis finally asked. When Jack just looked at him, he shrugged. “Hammond and I talked about this.”

“Ah.” Jack stretched his legs out under the table and winced at the creaking sound of his knees.

Davis bent across the table. “It would have been a brilliant career choice on your part and you would have been perfect in that position. I told him you wouldn’t decline an offer like that. Apparently, I was wrong.”

“Apparently.”

“But… why? You deserve this.” Paul picked up Daniel’s Mai Tai and took a sip. “Oh, this is good.”

“Ye-ah, maybe you shouldn’t drink that, Paul. Don’t you think you had enough?”

“You didn’t answer my question, Jack. You really don’t want this?”

“Nope.” _Not that it’s any of your business._

“Because of the kid? He could stay with Daniel, you’d be home on the weekends.”

Jack shrugged. “I like it at the mountain.”

Paul snorted. Then he took a large gulp of Daniel’s cocktail. Smacking his lips he said, “Wow, this is really great. You should try one.”

“No, thanks. You going in there?”

There was cheering coming from inside, followed by a loud and out of tune chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ accompanied by the popping sound of several champagne corks and more cheering.

Paul shook his head. “Nah. I’ll finish this and hit the sack. You?”

“Yep, I’m off.” Jack stood and pushed back his chair. “My leave starts,” he checked his watch, “now. I’m gonna crash and just do nothing. No kid, no dog, no Walter. No pesky anything.”

Paul saluted him with Daniel’s Mai Tai. “Have fun, sir.”

“Yeahsureyabetcha.”

Like Daniel had done earlier he took the stairs down to the elevators – there was no way he was going back into the Palm Court and be delayed by anyone now.

In the elevator on his way up he looked at the mirror, brushed a hand through his hair in the futile attempt to make it behave. There was always some strand sticking out at the back of his head.

 _Daniel won’t mind_ , he thought and grinned. Daniel would be occupied with other things than Jack’s hair for the rest of the night.

 _You better_ _be_ _exactly where I expect you to be_ , Jack thought as he walked down the corridor, his footsteps swallowed by the thick carpet. _And you better be ready for me when I get there._

However, it was probably too early to expect Daniel to be fully ready. Jack did a detour to his own room to freshen up a bit. And to get rid of his underwear.

Going commando in his dress blues was upping the excitement to an even higher level.

Just when he was going to leave he received a text.

_You better get your dick in here right now or I’m going to bed._

“Patience is a virtue,” Jack murmured on his way next door.

  
  


It was almost dark in Daniel’s room except for one of the bedside lamps providing a warm dim light.

Daniel wasn’t in position up against the wall where Jack had ordered him to be.

Daniel was bent over, ass mooning at Jack, in the corner of his room, rummaging around in the minibar. “I hope you’re not the room service,” he called out.

Jack closed the door with a gentle push. “And I hope you’re wearing that plug, buddy.”

Daniel wriggled his butt and looked back at him from under his armpit. “Wanna check?”

Jack didn’t take the bait. He walked into the bathroom, switched on the light and opened Daniel’s toiletries bag. It didn’t take long to find exactly what he’d been looking for.

He had to choose between soft pliant silicone and steel. Jack chose steel. Daniel wasn’t going to get off easy tonight.

Slipping the item into the pocket of his jacket he swiftly moved back into the room where Daniel was standing upright now, holding a small bottle of Jim Beam. “I was just going to have a drink and call it a night.”

“Wrong brand,” Jack said curtly.

“Ye-ah, there’s no Jack Daniel’s in there.” Daniel shrugged and did his best to look bored. A certain part of his anatomy was calling the bluff though.

Jack took the small bottle out of his hand and gently placed it on the table. Then he stepped up close, his lips brushing against Daniel’s ear while his hand found his insubordinate archaeologist’s semi hard cock. “You know the punishment for disobeying a direct order, Doctor Jackson?”

“No, sir. But if I may take an educated guess…”

“You may not.” Jack reached into his pocket and a moment later he heard Daniel suck in a breath when the small heavy ring slipped over the head of his penis. Jack teased him a bit, moving the ring up and down the shaft before putting it into place at the base and adjusting the size. Tight, but not too tight.

“But you _may_ go over to that wall I ordered you to stand at. Or get down on the floor and start doing push-ups. I’m going to enjoy both scenarios. Your choice.”

He could see it in Daniel’s eyes – the almost overwhelming urge to choose the push-ups and see what was going to happen. To help him make the right choice Jack grabbed him by the back of his neck and spun him around. “This way.”

“And here I thought you were going to flog me,” Daniel pouted, but finally moved and took position. He placed both palms against the wall on shoulder height, spread his legs slightly and looked at Jack over his shoulder.

“Be careful what you wish for.” Jack growled and slammed into him, making him feel his full weigh, the fabric of his dress blues and the cold metal of his medals.

And his growing erection still caught in his dress pants.

“You want to take them off me? Piece by piece? Jacket, tie, shirt, pants…?” Jack whispered into his ear. “That what you want to do, Doctor Jackson?”

“Yesss,” Daniel ground out balancing both their weight, the muscles in his biceps bulging. “But I’m pretty sure you won’t let me...”

“Damn straight I won’t.” Jack rubbed his full length against Daniel’s back. “Gonna nail you to this wall instead. ‘s what you get for egging me on and being cocky.”

Daniel moaned, a guttural sound coming from deep within him.

Jack took some of his weight off Daniel and placed both hands on his soon-to-be target. “If you’re not wearing that plug, I’m going to take you dry,” he threatened bitingly as he slid both thumbs slowly between Daniel’s ass cheeks, probing for the small handle...

There it was. Neatly tucked in. It was a relatively small plug, one that could stay in even when you had to sit down or walk around. Jack could have ordered Daniel to wear it at the party and no one would have noticed. Except Jack would have been a total mess and not being able to focus on much else then.

Which reminded him….

“Next time you feel like giving me a food porn show in a room packed with people I’m gonna strip you right there and bend you over the table, you got that?”

“Promises… Don’t promise anything you ca-an’t… go through… oh, holy…” Daniel’s breath hitched in his throat when Jack started manipulating the plug, turning it this way and that, pulling it out just so only to push it back in. He felt slick moisture on his fingertips. Daniel had already lubed up quite nicely.

“Lube’s on the…” Daniel gasped when Jack swiftly pulled the plug and tossed it behind him. “...cou...ch.”

“Quiet!” Jack snapped, plunging one finger inside Daniel. “You will talk. But not now. Let me hear some noise – but no words.”

Daniei’s breath was coming in harsh gasps. He pushed back into Jack’s exploring finger. He strained his head backwards, baring his throat to give access and let out a string of beautiful low moans when Jack blew warm breath into his ear and kissed his pulse point. He wanted to bite and suck, but any visible patch of skin that couldn’t be covered by clothes was forbidden. And he didn’t know if Daniel…

“Do it,” Daniel choked out. “Got turtlenecks.”

“So organized,” Jack praised and zeroed in on his target.

Daniel’s whole body trembled and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Jack reached around and started fondling Daniel’s dick with the hand that wasn’t playing in the backdoor. In contrast to his hard moving finger there, he kept the touches and caresses up front gentle and tender.

“Hnnng,” Daniel blurted when Jack’s fingertips brushed over hot erect skin. He checked on the ring, to make sure it wasn’t too tight. Daniel huffed and squirmed. The upside of having him wear the ring was that they didn’t need a condom to avoid a mess on the wall. Because Daniel wouldn’t be able to shoot until Jack took it off him.

But he would be totally out of his mind with the need to ejaculate by the time Jack was going to take it off. Daniel liked being overstimulated like this, liked having all his senses on fire.

And Jack very much liked seeing him on fire. He loved how it made Daniel glow, how his eyes turned this brilliant intense kind of blue, loved how he craved the raw physical contact, the pushing and shoving, the clutching and stroking, the kissing, licking, biting… Daniel reacted to every little stimulation like a burning torch, absorbing and consuming Jack’s touches.

“Feel like you should’ve followed orders yet?”

“No… yes… no no no… Don’t stop doin’ that…”

“You’re talking again.” Jack started kissing and nibbling the side of Daniel’s neck, trailed his tongue over the fresh hickey.

And squeezed his dick.

“Y’… FUCK… asked.”

“Shhh…”

The plug had opened Daniel’s entrance enough to add a second finger already. Jack tried to focus on his role here, but he was distracted by Daniel’s hard unyielding muscles, his sweat-slicked skin, his panting and deep-in-his-throat growling.

He was so hard, it hurt. He wanted… needed… to be in. Now.

But Daniel wasn’t ready. Not yet.

“So, Doctor Jackson…” Jack twisted his fingers and Daniel pushed back in response. “Gimme a rundown of my medals. One.” He added another finger. “By.” He felt that certain ring of muscles inside Daniel give away a bit more. “One.”

“God… Ja…”

Jack bit down on Daniel’s shoulder.

“Defense Distinguished Service Medal,” Daniel barked out. “Air Fu… Force Distinguished Service Medal… Defense Superior…” Jack could hear him swallow and gasp for air. “Air… air medal. Aieral Achievement Medal…”

Jack couldn’t believe it. Sure, there were a couple missing, but he had been sure Daniel was bluffing when he claimed he had memorized them. No one Jack knew was less interested in military honors or medals than Daniel.

“National Defense Service Medal,” Daniel plowed on. “Air Force Commendation...” He let out a whimper when Jack pulled out.

“Enough. You passed.” He kissed the bite marks and, for a moment, buried his nose in Daniel’s neck. “Don’t move,” he murmured. He stepped back long enough to open his jacket and belt, grab the lube, shrug down his pants and slick himself up.

When he was back in position, Daniel looked at him over his shoulder. “Want to see you. Want to see when you come wearing the suit.”

“No.” Jack didn’t have time to change positions, he didn’t have time to draw this out much longer. He used both thumbs to hold Daniel open and slid in, inch by agonizing inch. “Almost,” Jack breathed into his neck, “almost there… Talk to me… c’mon…”

“Language?” Daniel gasped.

“Dirty!”

“No, which… oh, don’t slow down, yes… like this… get in there.”

“Pick one.”

“ _Ya tebya hochu…_ _Ne ostanavlyvaysya!_ trAhni menya _!”_

“ _Russain?!_ _Are you kidding me?”_ Jack yelled, outraged and Daniel had the balls to chuckle before he gasped when Jack pushed in deeper.

“Trahni menia!” Daniel yelled back. “Prodoljai!”

“ _Oh no, moya_ lyubov’, you’re not getting away with that. Hands up!” Jack barked out and as soon as Daniel complied, he covered both wrists with his right hand, pinning them hard against the wall when he finally finally buried himself ball’s deep inside his lover’s ass.

They froze.

“Move!” Daniel bitched.

“Stop bitchin’,” Jack moaned.

And moved. Moved hard and fast, shoving Daniel into the wall, relishing the harsh pants and growls, the way Daniel tried to throw back his head and cursed when he was stopped by Jack grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking it aside in order to not have his nose broken by Daniel’s skull. “Behave,” Jack snarled. “I promised to nail you to the wall and that’s exactly what I’m doing!”

“Get. On. With. It.” Daniel pushed back with every word.

“Russian,” Jack spat. “I’ll give you Russian, you bastard.”

“Shoulda let me take that suit off you… omph!” Daniel’s forehead hit the wall, not too hard, just with a soft bang.

Jack didn’t slow down, but ground out. “You okay?”

“That all you have to offer? Little bit of pushing? Come ON, General, you can do better than this!”

Jack let go of Daniel’s wrists and grabbed his hips with both hands, thrusting even harder. Sweat was trickling down Daniel’s temple. “’s more like it, yes… need to feel you, everywhere, Jack, give it to me…”

Daniel turned his head, propped his right shoulder against the wall and reached back to clamp his own hands over Jack’s, who dug his fingers even harder into Daniel’s hips, clutching relentlessly.

“YES, come ON!”

“Not so fast,” Jack growled. “Let me be very clear here… and you can tell Colonel fucking Davis all about it next time you see him.” He punctuated every word with a thrust of his hips. “You. Are. Mine.”

“Yesyesyesohgodthisjustlikethisyes!”

“I want to hear it!”

“Yours,” it broke out of him like a triumphant howl of victory, followed by a wretched sob and a whispered, “Always.”

Jack let go and it was as if all of him, every single drop of liquid but also all his life energy, his very being was pulled out of him and poured into Daniel and Daniel was the vessel taking all of Jack in.

When the storm settled and the buzzing in his ears faded out he collapsed against Daniel, breathing harshly, trailing sloppy kisses over the taut neck and shoulders. His arms wrapped around Daniel’s waist, pulling him off the wall and holding him tight.

Daniel leaned back, head lolling onto Jack’s shoulder. “You’re killin’ me here. I think I squashed my dick.”

Jack groped the body part in question. “No squashing. But close to eruption.”

“G… I need to…”

“I know, I know…” Jack shushed him. His own voice sounded wretched and hoarse to him. “...c’mon, over to bed… want yours all over me…” He pulled Daniel around and together they stumbled into the general direction of the bed.

“Stop! Need to take the suit off you… lemme…” Daniel groaned, his trembling hands all over Jack’s jacket and the medals. “Oh god, yes… Don’t you _dare_ tell me no again!”

“Won’t,” Jack promised. They were still standing in the middle of the room, his shirt was being opened with trembling fingers, button by button.

Jack was dizzy from his roller coaster and ready to crash. But it was Daniel’s turn now. Daniel whispered words of appreciation and caressed Jack’s body underneath the open shirt, trailing fingertips over scars and muscles. His breath was still coming in chopped little gasps. Jack could feel Daniel’s hard-on pressing against his own crotch.

There was a weird pounding coming from somewhere. Jack thought it might be his own head even though he never had that kind of weird sensation...

Thump, thump, thump…

“Jack?” Daniel, who had just been fumbling with Jack’s tie to get it off, stopped. “What the hell’s that sound?”

“What?”

Thump, thump, thump…

“ _That_ sound.”

Jack blinked and shook his head. “I don’t...”

“DANIEL!” THUMP THUMP THUMP!

They stood, totally frozen, as if they had looked into the eye of Voldemort’s Serpent and turned to stone. Then Daniel started talking really fast. “Jack, I can’t… I gotta get rid of that ring, but I won’t be able to hold back once it’s off. We have to… I don’t know…”

“DANIEL, open the damn door!” BANG BANG BANG “IT’S ME!”

“It’s Paul,” Daniel hissed, pushing Jack away and clamping a hand over his dick, trying to open the ring. “Oh sh… it’s stuck!”

“Paul... Davis?” Jack was going to kill him. Slowly. With Daniel’s cock ring. He squinted down at Daniel’s boner. “Shouldn’t that go away what’s with him hammering at the door…?”

“Apparently it’s not,” Daniel hissed. “Too late for that!”

“Okay, okay, I’ve got this…” Jack’s well experienced fingertips acted on auto pilot, brushed over Daniel’s hard-as-nails cock, found the ring, opened it and slipped it off.

“Can you hold back until you’re in the bath…” Jack started.

BANG BANG BANG!

Daniel shook his head, his eyes wide with horror.

Jack saw it coming before it actually happened. Because this always happened after Daniel had dodged the ring.

The sudden pressure release when the blood flow returned always catapulted Daniel’s orgasms to new heights. Whereas Jack simply lasted longer and – once the ring came off – shot harder. Daniel didn’t just come. He exploded. And Daniel being a verbal guy on any good day…

As soon as Jack saw Daniel suck in a breath he clamped a hand over his mouth, muffling the yell. He felt Daniel’s body buck against his and then Jack was splattered everywhere, all over his stomach, his shirt, his crotch…

“Holy…” Jack’s mind was like molasses, his eyes were fixed on Daniel’s bulging eyes.

THUMP THUMP THUMP! “DAAANIELLL!”

He pulled his hand away and for a second he thought Daniel was going to lose his balance. Jack grabbed him by the shoulders to hold him upright.

More thumping.

Daniel shook himself out of it and Jack’s hands fell to his sides.

“Bathroom,” Daniel ground out. “Go…”

“No.” Jack started moving, shoving Daniel into the general direction of the bathroom. “You go!”

“It’s my room,” Daniel sniped.

“And I’m dressed.” Jack looked down at his pants pooling around his ankles. “Kinda.”

“You’re a total mess,” Daniel hissed. “You have my cum all over your...”

“Me dressed, you naked.” He gave Daniel a little push. “Move!”

“DANIEL! I LOVE YOU! YOU HEAR THAT? OPEN THE DOOOOR!”

Jack pulled his shirt over his cum covered belly, hastened to close the buttons, jerked his pants up, closed them and ignored the cold slippery mix of lube and body fluids smothering his pubic hair and trickling down his leg. By the time he had done his tie, closed his jacket and scrubbed both hands through his hair, Daniel had slipped into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Jack looked at his hands, patted his head again and let out a string of low curses. Lube, both their cum... on his hands… most of it was now in his hair.

Great. Just...

“I love you! I need to talk to you!” More banging.

Jack grabbed the beach towel, wiped his hands clean, balled it up and shoved it behind one of the recliners. He collected dress pants, the white shirt, socks and Daniel’s jacket, opened the bathroom door, tossed everything in and closed it again.

There was a loud THUD from outside the room.

“Crap,” Jack muttered under his breath. “Daniel? You ready?”

“No! But open the damn door before the whole hotel knows he’s in love with me,” Daniel’s strained voice came from the bathroom.

“’kay.” Jack stalked over and jerked the door open only to almost land flat on his ass when Colonel Davis slumped against him and they stumbled backwards.

“Ahh, finally! Daniel! I HAD to tell you… it’s been haunting me for years and I never… never had the guts to… tell you...”

Jack managed to keep them both upright, grabbed Paul by the collar of his dress blues jacket and throttled him. Hard. “COLONEL!” he barked.

Davis blinked. Blinked again. “Gen’ral? What’cha doin’ in Daniel’s room?”

He pushed Davis onto the bed. “You’re drunk!” Then he went and looked out into the corridor before he shut the door. Thankfully it was quiet and deserted out there. No nosy guests sticking their heads out their doors to see what the ruckus was all about.

When Jack had left the Palm Court the party had still been in full flow. Hopefully everyone else was still there drinking and celebrating the good vice president’s special day.

“I know I’m drunk!” Davis yelled. “That’s why ‘m here, because ‘m DRUNK that’s how I got the cour... courage… to tell Daniel…” He stopped mid rant, sat up, shook himself like a wet dog and looked around the room with wide bewildered eyes. “Where IS Daniel?”

“Not here,” Jack said. “And you’re not going to declare your love for him.”

“Love, yes!” Davis started to get up. Jack pushed him back down. “But mostly I need to tell him…” He started up again and Jack pushed him back down again, harder this time.

“Stay down or I’ll punch you!”

“But…”

“What the hell is going on with you, Davis?” Jack stood before him, grabbed his chin and tilted his head back. Davis’ pupils weren’t just dilated, they were like saucers.

“Holy crap.” Turning towards the closed bathroom door he yelled, “Daniel, we need some water here!”

It took another moment before the door opened and Daniel stepped out wearing his dress pants and shirt. He was pale except for two red spots on his cheeks and his hair was a mess. There was a bandaid on the side of his neck where Jack had left his mark earlier.

Without a word Daniel handed Davis a glass of water.

Davis took it and looked at it as if he had never seen such a thing.

“Drink that,” Jack prompted.

Paul eyed the glass and shook his head. “Nonono… See, Daniel…” He was trying to scramble to his feet again, and for the third time, Jack shoved him down.

“You better stay seated, huh? Daniel’s right here.”

“Right here,” Paul muttered and nodded. “Right! Daniel, I have to tell you this… You need to go to At… lan… Atlantis. Weir is right, you’re wasting your potential. You BELONG there. You gotta go. Don’t let him…” he stabbed at Jack with his finger, probably aiming for his chest but poking his hip instead. “Don’t let HIM tell you otherwise. He’s just… being a jerk… and you gotta go an’ be… brilliant. ‘cause that’s what you are. BRILLIANT!”

Jack caught Davis’ poking finger and moved it out of the way. The man looked up at him with bleary eyes. “Sorry, O’Neill, it had to be said.”

Daniel sighed. And crouched down in front of Paul. “Okay, Paul, I hear you. Can you tell us what’s the last thing you drank at the party?”

“Huh? Dunno.” Then he smiled and Jack had to admit it was a very sweet and loving smile. He bent forward and reached out to touch Daniel’s face. Daniel caught his hand and held onto it, squeezed it to get Paul’s attention. “Try to remember. It’s important.”

But Davis had other things on his mind. “You’re beautiful. I love you. He…” He waved at Jack dismissively, “has no idea what an incredible guy you are.”

 _Oh, believe me, I do._ “He’s drugged to the eyeballs,” Jack muttered in Daniel’s direction.

“Paul,” Daniel said, voice stern, “the party? Did you drink anything else after the wine? Take pills? Smoke something? It’s really important that you remember.”

Paul scrunched up his face. “I had your cocktail. And damn, it was delicious. Best drink I had in a while.” He struggled to sit up straight again and Jack put a hand on his back to support him – and to pull him back if he tried anything funny. “Daniel, listen to me. The SGC don’ need you anymore, they’ve never even be grateful for all you’ve done for them, for all your hard work. Atlantis is your destiny. Always has been.”

“Why don’t you have some more water?” Daniel tried to hand him the glass again, but Paul ignored it.

“I love you,” he sighed.

“Yeah, we heard that the first time. And probably half the hotel, too,” Jack remarked tersely.

“There’s more I gotta tell ya.”

_Oy._

“I love Daniel, always have, well, for a long time anyway,” Paul chattered, looking at Jack with those huge dilated pupils. “But Daniel loves you.” Again with the stabbing finger. Jack took a step back and looked at Daniel across the bed. He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t believe how hard it was to listen to this without being allowed to react.

 _I should punch his lights out and be done with i_ t, Jack thought. He might have done just that if Davis was just drunk. But this looked like date rape drugs or something nasty and Jack knew keeping him awake was the better option here.

But oy, it was going to be a long night.

“Daniel loves YOU. And YOU…” Paul stumbled to his feet, took one step towards Jack and started swaying dangerously.

It only took one hard shove to have him back on the bed again. “Sit!”

“You’re too stupid to get it. Or too stubborn. Or both. Or, I dunno, but…” Davis dropped flat on his back, then rolled to his side and stared at something on the carpet. “O’Neill? Is that a cock ring on the floor…?” And then he threw up all over the sheets, Daniel’s favorite toy, the nightstand and Jack’s dress shoes.

TBC

  
  


Russian words:

Trahni menia silnee

fuck me harder

_Ya tebya hochu_

_I want you_

_Ne ostanavlyvaysya_

_Don’t stop_

Prodoljai!

Keep going

_moya lyubov_

_my love_


	6. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I claim any and all mistakes on procedures etc as being mine. I looked up the John Doe thing and a bit of the medical procedures, but this is, after all, still fiction, so I might have taken some author's liberty here.
> 
> Also, I moved Hope Zion to DC :) I had a total blast doing this and I am not ashamed of it, hah!

VI

“How is his pulse?” Daniel asked.

“Bit slow.” Jack let go of Paul’s wrist and patted his cheek. “Paul? Hey, Paul, you still with us?”

“Sleepy,” Paul murmured.

“He’s sleepy,” Jack reported as if Daniel wasn’t sitting right next to them. Well, he had retreated to the couch across the room to put as much distance between him and Paul as possible.

“Slow pulse, sleepy,” Daniel passed the report on. Then he put Janet on speaker so that they didn’t have to repeat everything anyone said.

“Okay, General O’Neill?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Janet… We’re far off the record here.”

“Right. Jack. Look into his mouth. See if he has sore spots or swellingin his gums or tongue,” Janet said on the other end of the phone.

“What if he bites?”

Daniel gave Jack a prompting look. “Just do it!”

Jack grimaced but tapped Paul’s jaw. “I need to check something. Open up. And don’t bite me.”

Paul smiled. “I won’t bite you. I’d rather bite Daniel.”

Daniel covered his face with one hand.

On the phone, Janet coughed.

“Open your mouth,” Jack repeated when Paul just sat there.

“You’re not my dentist.”

“You heard the doc. Open it!”

Paul shook his head.

“Daniel, I’m sure he’ll open his mouth for you…”

“Ahhh, no.” Daniel held up his phone. “Talking to Janet here.”

“Oh, for…” Jack quickly grabbed Paul’s nose. As soon as the colonel gasped for air Jack shoved two fingers into the corners of his mouth, applied pressure to the lower jaw and tilted his head toward the bedside lamp after letting go of his nose. Paul didn’t put up any resistance. After a moment of examination Jack reported. “No damage. Just really bad breath.”

“Your fingers taste funny,” Paul pointed out, smacking his lips. “Is that lube and… ?”

“That’s just the foul taste of you being totally shit-faced,” Jack cut him off, voice harsh and slightly perturbed.

Daniel wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. He knew the various places Jack’s fingers had been tonight. _Please zat me now_ , he thought. _Threee, four, five times would be great._

“No damage is good. Sometimes if it was GHB – which is the common drug to put in someone’s drink because it’s tasteless and turns transparent – sore mucosa or swollen gums can be an indicator of an overdose.”

“What if it was something else?” Daniel watched Jack pick up the box with wet wipes that was still on his nightstand. He pulled out a wipe, started to clean his hands, then cursed and stalked into the bathroom instead.

“I really can’t tell from here. I hate to break it to you guys, but he should be taken to an ER, just in case he develops side effects. These kind of drugs often cause circulatory problems, low blood pressure, slowed heart rate. And he needs fluids to counterbalance the drugs and the alcohol.”

“What if we force water into him? Monitor his pulse. Can’t we just let him sleep this off?”

He already knew the answer to that. But he had to ask, against all odds.

“If he falls asleep now, he could slip into unconsciousness,” Janet warned.

“Daniel has to go to Atlantis,” Paul spoke up as soon as Jack returned from washing his hands. “It means I’m gonna die lonely and bitter, but I’m not the kind of jerk you are. You jus’ wan’ him for yourself, but you can’t even… love… him the way he deserves…”

Jack picked up the glass of water he had put on the nightstand earlier. “Take a sip.”

“No no no, you gotta listen to me, been watching the two of you… for years and it’s… sad…”

“Drink.” Jack ordered, putting one hand on the back of Paul’s skull and holding the glass against his lips. “Daniel wants you to drink this. If you love him that much, humor him, okay?”

Paul blinked and opened his mouth and took a sip of water. Then another one. Then he turned his head away and coughed. And dropped into the pillows.

Jack grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to pull him back into a sitting position, but Paul batted Jack’s hands away. For a moment they engaged into a weird battle of smacking each other’s hands until Jack took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine! Have it your way.”

Daniel sighed. “Janet, the subject of his ramblings is… We can’t admit him to a hospital like this. And it’s not just about him and me and Jack. He could blab out anything about the Stargate, more stuff about Atlantis… He’s a mess and we can’t really shut him up, short of punching his lights out.”

“I volunteer for that,” Jack threw in.

“There is the point of doctor/patient confidentiality,” Janet said.

“Yes, but he’s drugged. He’s drugged and he wants to tell the whole world he’s in love with me. This might well be the end of his career for various reasons.”

“I know, Daniel,” she sighed. “Let me think… Okay. I’m going to call a friend of mine at Hope Zion. It’s not a military hospital and if we’re lucky she’s on duty. I’ll call you back. In the meantime keep Colonel Davis awake, give him water if you can and monitor his breathing and pulse.” Without another word she hung up.

Daniel tossed the phone on the couch and tried not to wince when he stood. He hurt. Everywhere. His neck, shoulder, his back, his ass. His head was pounding from the adrenaline rush and drop. And he was sticky, damp and uncomfortable. He didn’t have time to clean himself up properly and now Jack’s cum was drying in and on him.

At least he had had the presence of mind to put a band aid over the hickey on the side of his neck.

His own juices had mostly hit Jack. At least the jacket covered the stains on the shirt. But Jack’s pants were probably soiled as well.

 _So much for not being allowed to stain the dress blues._ The thought was hysterical and Daniel almost choked in his desperate attempt to suppress what would have come out as an insane burst of laughter.

_Excellent timing, Paul. Fucking excellent._

He had to turn away from the sight of Jack standing by the bed with his disheveled greasy hair, in his wrinkled dress blues, the expression on his face somewhere between desperate and angry.

Paul was obliviously gazing at the ceiling, smiling at nothing in particular. Daniel didn’t want to know what was going on in his drug fogged mind right now.

“It smells like sex in here,” Paul said dreamily. “I think it’s coming from you, Gen’r’l ‘Neill.”

“That’s your puke you’re smelling,” Jack blurted.

“No, I know that smell.” He raised a hand. “Not a virgin here.”

“Yeah and that’s really TMI, Davis.” Jack tried, once again, to move Paul into a sitting position. “I could use some help over here, Daniel.”

Daniel went to prop up pillows behind the colonel’s back. The man kept nodding off and Jack patted his cheek none too gently. “Davis! Pay attention! Stay with us here!”

“Dan’el?” Paul opened bleary eyes.

Daniel sat on the bed next to him. “I’m, uh, I’m here.”

“Will you talk to Weir? ‘Cause if you don’t, I’ll do it.” Paul slurred.

“Whatever you want, Paul. Don’t worry about it, okay? Hey, remember when we were in that bar with Colonel Chekov and you were singing Red Army songs with him?” Maybe changing the subject would steer Paul’s focus away from the smell, him and Jack or Atlantis.

“Oh yeah, that was fun, wasn’t it? I was so drunk… we all were…” Paul patted Daniel’s hand and he gently pulled it away. “Guesswhat? I wanned to tell you then. How I felt. And HE…” Paul waved at Jack and Jack’s face took an interesting shade of pink before it closed off and turned into that blank mask he was so good at displaying to shield his emotions. “He told me he’d break every single bone in my body and put me six feet under if I came on to you.”

“Jack has a very unique way of showing he cares for his team,” Daniel said dryly.

“We were all drunk,” Jack pointed out.

“He acted like you were his,” Davis went on and snorted. “Like you’re some trophy to put on a wall.” He dropped his voice to a conspiratorially whisper. “I could see it in his _eyes_. He wants to own you.” Then he blinked. “Oh, wait… why are you both in a room that smells like the backroom of some sleazy gay club?”

“That’s the drugs, Davis. You’re hallucinating.” Jack said. His voice was amazingly calm.

 _Oh, lovely, just when you think things can’t really get any worse – tah-da._ Daniel was this close to knocking Davis out. Or Jack.

He shot his partner a glare which was met with a returned stare, somewhere between regret and defiance. To Paul he said, “Let’s not go there, okay? Remember, you’re an Air Force Colonel and there are rules to live by. Laws even.”

“Screw the rules!” Paul started laughing. “Screw DADT!”

“Jack…” Daniel hissed. “Do something.”

“What?!”

“I don’t know! Yell at him! You’re the superior officer in this room!”

“Ye-ah,” Jack huffed a bitter laugh. “I’m quite the role model here.”

“Just…” Daniel waved at him angrily. “Do it!” His phone beeped.

Paul kept laughing and grabbed Daniel’s wrist to keep him from getting up. “Hayes is going to repeal DADT!”

“Colonel Davis! Front and center!” Jack bellowed. “Name, rank!”

Davis shut up like a clam, sat up straight and saluted. “Davis, Paul! Lieutenant Colonel, sir!”

“Get your act together!”

“Yes, sir, General O’Neill, sir.”

 _So well conditioned, these military guys. Pavlov would be proud,_ Daniel thought as he slipped off the bed and picked up his phone.

“You’re clear. Call a taxi and get him to Hope Zion. Ask for Doctor Maggie Lin. I clued her in on a need to know basis. She’s a good friend, you can trust her. My advice – off the record – no IDs. Have her e-mail me a copy of the test results – unlabeled.”

“What if he keeps droning on about Atlantis and… stuff?” Daniel asked, still not convinced this was a good idea.

“He’s drugged, Daniel. No one is going to pay attention to what he says anyway. This is your best option. And Doctor Lin is going to keep him isolated.”

Daniel felt that knot in his stomach untying a bit. “Thanks, Janet.”

“Always. Do you have any idea why someone would want to drug Colonel Davis?”

Daniel exchanged a long look with Jack who gave him a subtle nod. “The drink wasn’t for Davis.”

“Whose drink was it?”

“Mine.”

There was a long silence before Janet asked, “I assume the two of you will look into that?”

Another curt nod from Jack who was still staring Davis down after telling him to ‘shut the hell up or be recycled back to basic training’.

“Right now, our best option is to keep this under wraps,” Daniel said. “It’s a huge mess.”

“Daniel… if you guys need anything…” He could hear through the phone how she was bristling with suppressed anger and worry. “Stay out of this as much as possible. If Doctor Lin needs a contact, tell her to call me at home. I’m off duty now until tomorrow 13:00.”

“I know. Thanks. I appreciate it.” He hung up and absently rubbed that hickey on his neck. Jack had staked his claim with so much powerful force tonight, it had taken his breath away. He had been on such a total high - and then crashed down so hard.

He was tired. Bone deep tired.

“Day,” Jack said.

“Night,” Paul replied.

“Hot.”

“Cold.”

“Light.”

“Dark.” Paul grinned. “How ‘m I doin’?”

“What _are_ you doing?” Daniel asked.

“Playing a game. Hey, Daniel, that suit looks hot on you…”

“Davis!” Jack snapped his fingers in front of Paul’s still dilated eyes. “White.”

“Black. Sir, did you know I have a new bike?”

“No,” Daniel jumped at the new subject like he was grasping for straws. “Do tell.”

“Harley Davidson, black and chrome. Very cool…” Davis went into a lengthy explanation about his motorcycle when Jack patted his shoulder, told him to keep going and joined Daniel by the couch.

“It’s really hard to keep him focused on anything but you,” Jack sniped.

“Or on you being a heartless condescending narcissistic asshole.”

“There’s that.” Jack took off his dress blues jacket, looked down at himself and the stains on his shirt and pants. His shoes were covered in Paul’s vomit and smelled pungent. So did the whole room.

“I’ll call Ed. See if he can arrange for someone to clean up in here and have the valet get our car,” Daniel said. “Go, get changed.”

Jack eyed Davis. He had stopped rambling on about his Harley Davidson and was now staring at them with glassy eyes.

“He can barely stand. He isn’t in any position to make a pass at me if that’s what you’re worried about. But if he tries anything funny, I’m going to show him who put his marks on me. Since you already threatened to beat the crap out of him years ago, he knows how territorial you are.” Daniel knew he was lashing out at the wrong person. Jack wasn’t the enemy here and neither was Paul. But he couldn’t help it. He turned his back on Jack and grabbed Ed’s card from the small table.

Jack left without another word and Daniel called Ed while he kept a close eye on Davis who was fiddling with the medals on his own dress blues jacket. Once everything was arranged, he went to check on Paul’s pulse.

“You’re beautiful,” Paul said softly. “Everything about you is. Your eyes, your mouth… but you’re even more beautiful on the inside. Wanna be my yang?”

“You’ll find someone else,” Daniel heard himself say.

“Hayes is going to repeal DADT,” Davis said. “It’s already in the making. No one’s s’pposed to know yet.”

“Then let’s not talk about it, huh?”

“No, let’s not. Can I kiss you?”

“No. We’re going to leave soon. Take you to a hospital. You’ve been drugged and need an IV with fluids and then you can sleep it off.”

“Who drugged me?” Paul looked confused. “And why? I don’ do drugs.” He leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes.

Daniel knew he had to keep him awake, but before he took care of that he quickly picked the stainless steel ring and the silicone plug off the floor. He snatched one of the wet wipes fromits box and quickly cleaned them before he shoved them deep into the pocket of his pants.

Then he used another wipe to clean his hands.

He was just shaking Paul awake when the door opened and Jack was back wearing jeans, a gray hoodie and his leather jacket. His hair looked damp and when he passed Daniel there was a whiff of soap.

Jack tossed another sweater, a t-shirt and gray sweatpants on the bed. “Put that on, Davis.”

Paul frowned. “Why?”

“Because I’d rather not drop you off at the hospital in your dress blues. No one needs to know you got drugged at the vice president’s birthday party.”

“Oh. Can I put on one of your shirts, Daniel?”

“No!” Jack and Daniel said in unison.

“I want to smell of you,” Davis explained with a little sigh.

Daniel rolled his eyes. Was this nightmare ever going to end? He opened his closet, grabbed a fresh shirt and a pair of jeans. He was about to go to the bathroom when his phone lit up with a text from Ed to let him know the car was waiting.

He tossed his clothes on the couch and went to help Jack with Davis instead.

Together they stripped him out of his jacket and dress shirt and into the black tee and sweater Jack had provided. Paul wasn’t a big help. He kept trying to pet Daniel’s hair or any other body part he could reach and mumbling endearing nonsense under his breath.

Finally Jack shook his shoulder and told him to ‘snap out of it and change your pants’. “I’m not going to do that for you,” he warned.

Daniel untied Davis’ shoes and pulled them off. He was beyond caring about taking those pants off. All he wanted was to get this over with.

“He’s not going to do it himself, Jack,” he said on a tired sigh.

“Only Daniel has permission to get into my pants.” Paul sniggered.

Daniel looked at Jack. Jack looked like he was going to murder Paul any time now. But then he just opened the colonel’s belt and started working on his pants. “I’ll do it. There’s no time for a shower, but go and change at least.”

Daniel didn’t take time to clean up properly, he just changed his clothes, splashed water on his face, scrubbed his hands and brushed his hair.

When he returned from the bathroom and Jack handed him his leather jacket, Paul was fully dressed again and sitting on the edge of the bed. He was smaller in height and lankier than Jack, so the clothes were kind of baggy on him.

“Better too big than too small,” Jack shrugged as they grabbed Paul by the arms and pulled him to his feet. “Can you stand?”

“I’m not paralyzed or anything,” Paul muttered. And swayed dramatically. “Oh, look, an earthquake.”

“There are no earthquakes in DC,” Jack assured him.

“But the ground is moving.” Paul clamped his arm around Daniel’s shoulders. His fingers dug hard into the hickey and Daniel bit his lip hard to keep quiet as they maneuvered Davis out the door and down the corridor towards the elevator.

A sudden thought had Daniel look at the ceiling and into the corners. Were there security cameras anywhere up here? Would they have to bribe someone to destroy evidence? He couldn’t see any cameras but he noticed Jack’s eyes searching for them, too.

No cameras.

There was no camera in the elevator either.

Paul started humming.

“What’s that song?” Daniel asked. He wasn’t sure why he asked, he didn’t really want to know.

“Can’t help but falling in love with you,” Jack provided, grinning wearily. “I have to give him credit here, he’s got excellent taste.” He tightened his arm around Paul’s waist and hitched him up. “Wakey wakey! We gotta go!”

In an awkward sideways shuffle the three of them exited the elevator into an almost empty lobby. There was someone at the desk, talking softly on the phone, but from upstairs noises of the still ongoing party floated down to them. Loud music, laughter, chatter.

Daniel looked up at the mezzanine. There were people on the gallery, probably for a bit of fresher air and a quiet place to talk and have their drinks in peace. And as soon as they stepped out of the shadows they would be seen. Hopefully no one would recognize them or pay any attention, but…

A low whistle had them veer to the right and there was Ed motioning at them to follow him into a side corridor.

Paul chose this exact moment to turn his humming into words. “Wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with youuu…“

“Shut him up,” Daniel hissed.

“Colonel Davis,” Jack rapped out. “Focus! Move!”

“Sir! Yes!...” Daniel clamped a hand over his mouth and pushed them forward to where Ed was holding a door open for them.

The concierge didn’t ask any questions. He simply led them through another small corridor to a side exit, punched in a code into a pad beside the door and opened it for them. “You can park the car here at the entrance when you’re back and leave the key at the front desk. They will inform the valet. Do you need a driver, Doctor Jackson?”

“No, thanks, we’re good. And I want to apologize in advance for the mess in my room.” Daniel had left a generous tip and a note of apology to whoever of the cleaning staff had to clean up Paul’s vomit off the floor and change the bed sheets.

“Not a problem, sir. I hope your friend will be okay. Your car is waiting right there at the curb.” He handed Daniel a bunch of paper bags. “Use these in case he throws up again.”

Jack gestured at Daniel to stop and they propped Paul against the wall by the door. “Look, Ed… is there a way you could provide us with a list of the staff who worked the bar at the party tonight?”

“For interrogations?”

“Questioning,” Daniel said vaguely.

“You said, on the phone, someone spiked his drink. Are you sure about that? You would be surprised how many illegal substances circulate among the guests at parties like this,” Ed said quietly. “I don’t want to discredit your friend, but could it be he just took something?”

“Shall I stay? Would it be a sin If I can't help falling in love with you?” Paul mumbled in a sing-song voice.

Jack nudged him. “Davis!”

“Yessir, but it’s Daniel, sir, I can’t help it.”

“At least use your inside voice,” Jack snapped. “Or go back to humming.”

Paul went back to humming. And smiling like a loon.

“He doesn’t do drugs,” Daniel said sharply.

“And we’d like to know who’s behind it. And why.” Jack added. “And we appreciate your discretion.”

Ed looked like he was developing a really bad headache. “Discretion is not a problem. But if one of our staff is behind this, we need to get to the bottom of it.”

“We don’t believe anyone from your staff is behind this. We just want to find out who exactly ordered that drink and had it delivered to our table,” Daniel clarified.

“Look, right now we need to keep this as low keyed as possible. There’s no need to inform anyone else if you can handle this on your own,” Jack said, pulling his wallet from his jacket.

Ed shook his head, declining the offered cash. “Keeping this low key is in the interest of the Mayflower, too, sir. You take good care of your friend and I will see to everything else.”

“Thanks.” Jack took hold of Davis again. “C’mon, big guy, time to leave.”

Daniel grabbed Paul’s other arm and with a mix of walking, swaying and nudging Paul in the right direction they reached their rental. Daniel held out his hand. “I’ll drive.”

There was no way he was sitting in the back with Paul. And someone had to just in case he tossed his cookies again or passed out or whatever.

The keys were handed over without argument and Jack maneuvered Davis into the backseat and joined him there. Daniel tossed the paper bags over to them.

“Where we goin’?” Paul asked. His voice was becoming more and more slurred and when Daniel steered the car out on the road he saw Paul’s head lolling back.

“Hospital, remember? We’re taking you to the doctor.” Jack patted his cheek. “Paul! DAVIS!”

“’m not drunk, jus’ need to be with ‘niel…”

“Daniel is here, he’s driving the car.”

“’anielisinlovewithyou, didya know that, Jack?” Paul sighed. And started heaving. Jack had the paper bag ready and Daniel was very glad he had insisted on driving.

“I hope for all our sakes he doesn’t remember any of this tomorrow,” Jack muttered as he opened one of the car windows to let some air in.

“I wish I wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow either,” Daniel snapped.

“ _None of it_?” Jack asked, but even his attempt at humor sounded flat.

“Right now, I’d prefer a total blackout, yes.” All he wanted was a shower, a Tylenol, sleep and a case of amnesia. He could still smell the sweat and sex on himself, even after he had changed clothes. And the dried fluids were starting to itch in the most unpleasant places.

He felt raw and sore, not just physically. He was cold, on the inside.

Like he had been taken apart and not put back together again. He knew what this was and he knew – rationally – that it had been an unfortunate series of events. That it was nobody’s fault, except Kinsey’s, maybe. But sometimes knowing and feeling were two different things and right now the feeling was drowning out the mind.

One of the best nights of his life.

Gone to hell right at the climax.

Yep. Great timing.

He knew there would be other opportunities, other nights, but right now he didn’t care. Right now he was just mad. And at the same time he didn’t even have the energy to rave and rant – even if he had the time to do it.

And all of that wasn’t even the worst of it.

The worst of it, the thing that made his blood run cold and kept coming back at him again and again; that one thought that stood out to him in all this mess…

_We could have gotten caught tonight._

He tried to focus on the GPS system he had put the address into for Hope Zion as soon as they had gotten on their way.

In the backseat Jack was trying to engage Paul into a conversation about food to keep him awake. Paul was giving them a list of his favorite desserts. When he nodded off again, Jack switched to favorite brands of wine.

By the time they finally entered the long driveway to the hospital Daniel knew he and Paul had the same taste in dessert, not the same likes in wine, but they did love the same cheese.

 _A match made in heaven_ , Daniel thought sourly.

As soon as they had the sluggish colonel out of the car he decided to pass out on the sidewalk right there in the parking lot.

“Crap,” Jack muttered, fumbling for his pulse. “This is not good.”

“At least he’s not singing anymore.” Daniel helped lift the dead weight over Jack’s shoulders.

“Always look on the bright side of life.” Jack rose to his feet, cursing under his breath. “For a scrawny guy he’s pretty heavy.”

“He’s not tall, but he’s in great shape.” Daniel took the lead towards the large neon sign that said; ER – Entrance

“Funny you noticed that,” Jack griped.

Daniel swallowed any reply he might regret later and swiftly marched into the brightly lit ER. He was greeted by a tired looking guy at the desk, but before he could ask for Doctor Lin, a young Asian woman in a white lab coat walked towards them.

“Hi, I’m Doctor Lin. Are you friends of Janet?”

“Close friends,” Daniel confirmed.

“The best,” Jack added.

Lin cast one look at Jack and Paul and raised dark eyebrows. “Must have been one hell of a party. How long has he been unconscious?”

“He was awake and alert until we left the car. Five minutes tops. He’s got a pulse, but very slow.”

Doctor Lin stopped a passing nurse and sent her for an IV and a drug test kit.

“Follow me,” Lin ordered briskly. “How much time passed until he started showing signs of drug abuse?” They entered one of the cubicles and Jack put him on the bed.

Lin pulled the curtains closed and immediately started taking Paul’s vitals.

“I was with him until around midnight… he was fine. He said he wanted to finish his drink and go to bed.” Jack shrugged. “He showed up thirty, maybe fourty-five minutes later at our rooms, banging on our doors.”

“Any happy pills? Extasy?” Lin shone a penlight into Paul’s eyes. “LSD, maybe?”

“Nothing fancy, just regular drinks,” Daniel said.

“Doesn’t look like regular drinks to me,” Lin countered with a smirk. Daniel could see how she and Janet had become fast friends. Same sense of humor.

“Didn’t Fraiser tell you someone spiked his drink?” Jack snapped.

She pursed her lips. “Yes, she told me, but I have to ask these questions anyway, so humor me, okay? To be honest, it’s kind of unusual for a guy to have his drink spiked by date rape drugs, if that’s what it turns out to be,” she pointed out, not in the slightest intimidated by the patented O’Neill glare. “Unless you were at a gay club.”

“No details,” Jack said curtly.

Lin smirked. “I see.” Then she became all professional again. “I know you want to keep this off the record, but any information you can provide me with might help to pinpoint what he took… or what was put in his drink.”

“Hey! This guy,” Jack pointed at Paul whose eyelids fluttered open, revealing confused glassy brown eyes. “is NOT an addict. And he did not set out to get high tonight. Someone did this to him. And no, we don’t know what it was.”

The nurse returned and they had to step out to make space for the IV to be set up. Doctor Lin discreetly ushered them into another cubicle and once again closed the curtains.

“Look, I’m not judging here. I was merely trying to figure out what he might have taken… we know about some of the substances being consumed in certain establishments.” When Jack just kept looking at her stoically, she nodded. “Right. I’m going to make sure it’s all handled very discreetly and he’ll get a room for the night. Any idea who might have done this to him?”

“No,” Daniel said at the same time as Jack.

She reached into the chest pocket of her white coat and retrieved her phone. “Can I call you? I don’t expect any complications. He’ll be monitored and will probably just sleep through the night, but just in case…?”

“No.” Jack shook his head. “If there’s a problem call Janet. She’ll contact us.”

Lin’s eyebrows wandered upwards. “Wow. Okay. How long are you going to be at the capitol?”

Daniel said, “We are scheduled to leave tomorrow, but will be back to catch our flight on Tuesday.”

Jack raised an eyebrow at this revelation but didn’t ask.

“Does your friend have family we can contact? It would be good if someone is with him once the drugs are out of his system.”

“We’ll be back in the morning to pick him up,” Daniel offered.

“Great.” She gave Jack a long look. ”I see three guys who partied too hard and that’s it. Janet said that one of you is in the position to call the shots on this.”

“That would be me,” Jack said quietly. “No IDs. A copy of the test result goes to Doctor Fraiser. Unlabeled.”

“Okay, I’m filing him as John Doe for our lab then. You’ve never been here, I never met you guys.” She looked like she was having a ball with this.

“Thanks, Doctor Lin.”

“Are you kidding? You guys made my shift. I can spend the rest of the night speculating on what’s going on, wondering if I just witnessed some top secret classified drug experiment gone wrong or if you guys just let your hair down and can’t risk being caught.”

“Just keep the speculating to yourself, okay?” Jack gave her a wry smile.

She sighed and winked. “Yes, okay. I see how that’s a good idea.” She turned to Daniel and frowned. “Do you happen to be a relative of Doctor Charlie Harris?”

Daniel blinked. “Uh, who? No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just that you really remind me of him. Same eyes.” She pocketed her phone away. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Let me know when you get here, I’m on double shift so I’m not going anywhere.”

When they were saying their goodbyes the nurse rushed over to them. “Which one of you is Daniel? He’s asking for you.”

Daniel’s headache went up another notch.

“I didn’t get that,” Doctor Lin deadpanned. “Dave, was it?” With a wink she took the nurse by the elbow and they walked off to tend to the next patient.

Jack squeezed his shoulder. “Go. Tell him we’ll pick him up tomorrow. And tell him to keep his damn mouth shut or I’m gonna shoot him tomorrow.”

Paul was awake and seemed a little more clear. He scrubbed a tired hand over his face. “Daniel? What the hell happened?”

“Someone drugged you, remember?” Daniel tried an encouraging smile. “Hey, you look only half as shit-faced as you did when we hauled you in here.”

“We? What? Oh…” Paul pressed the heel of his right hand against his head. There was a pulsoximeter on his finger. “I wanted to tell you…”

“You did.”

“I did? What did you say? Are we…” He frowned. “I wanted to invite you to lunch tomorrow and ask you to spend the day with me. I bought a chocolate heart and a bottle of champagne. Wanted to accommodate you… like, you know, one does on Valentine’s Day. I was thinking flowers, but know you’re allergic… so I thought, yeah, chocolate and… maybe… paper rose petals.” He shrugged and smiled a bit sheepishly. “What can I say, I’m the last true romantic guy on the planet.”

Daniel couldn’t help but return the smile because it was so sweet and thoughtful. Chocolate, champagne and paper rose petals. Real romance. Whoever Paul hooked up with in the future was going to be a very lucky guy. Aloud he said, “Paul… we really shouldn’t discuss this now. Or at all.”

“Did I tell you Hayes wants to repeal DADT?”

“Yes, but that hasn’t happened yet, so…” Daniel kept his own voice low, hoping it would give Davis the hint to do the same. “Do yourself a favor and don’t tell them who you are. Or that you’re military. Just… keep it down, okay? They’ll take good care of you here. If you need anything, ask for Doctor Lin.”

“Doctor Lin, okay. I’m dog tired.” He raised the arm that was hooked to the IV and gazed at it for a moment. “Huh, drugged? How strange.”

“Jack and I will be back tomorrow. We’ll take you home and, uh… did you have a room at the Mayflower? Do you want us to clear it and bring your stuff with us tomorrow?”

“No, I was going home after the party.” Paul frowned. “I’d rather only talk to you and not to O’Neill.” His eyes closed. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

 _It’s not up to you to be the judge of that._ But he stayed silent and just sat on the edge of Paul’s bed for another moment. When he was sure his friend had gone to slumberland while the IV was slowly dripping fluids into him and the monitors were showing stable vitals, he got up and left.

Jack was waiting for him near the exit. He looked calm, but his jaw was set and his eyes hard and dark. “How is he?”

“Asleep. Hopefully he stays that way until he’s sober again.” Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. His contact lenses were giving him fits. He needed his glasses.

He took a deep breath of the crisp night air as they walked back to the car. They didn’t talk on their way to the Mayflower and he was grateful Jack was giving him space. From time to time he sensed Jack’s eyes on him, but he kept his focus on the traffic. He had to squint a couple of times because his eyes were watering from the slight burn. He had been wearing his contacts for sixteen hours or longer, he really needed to get them out.

What a mess. It would just take the cake if he had an accident on top of it all just because he couldn’t see properly. After gripping the steering wheel harder and blinking rapidly a couple of times his vision cleared.

He expected Jack to tell him to pull over and let him drive. But Jack didn’t say anything. He was brooding. And still angry. Daniel could almost literally feel it coming off him in waves.

Finally they parked the rental where it had been waiting for them earlier. Then they just sat there, staring out of the windscreen. They needed to talk about this, about what their next steps would be.

“What do you think happened?” he asked finally. “Why would Kinsey have my drink spiked? You think he’s onto us and basically wanted me to do what Paul did? Did he want me to come out in the middle of his party and declare my love for you? In front of everyone? What?”

“What?” Jack echoed him.

“It makes perfect sense. If he found out about us somehow this would have been the easiest and safest way to discredit us, get you court-martialed and dishonorably discharged,” Daniel spat. “They would just boot both of us and with a snap of his finger Kinsey would get rid of LD, too.”

Jack stared at him incredulously. “Daniel… what are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that we almost got caught tonight!”

“Wasn’t Kinsey.”

“No? Enlighten me. Who do you think it was?” Daniel couldn’t believe how close they had come to losing everything tonight.

“The Rita Skeeter chick.”

“The… what?” Daniel frowned. “Julia Donovan? From Inside Access?” Only Jack would forget her real name but remember the name of some Harry Potter character from years ago.

Daniel jerked the door open and left the car. He needed fresh air. Needed to take a deep breath. He felt sick. And even angrier than before.

“She wanted an interview with you. She didn’t strike me as someone who gives up easily. She kept watching you,” Jack said when he exited the car and then stood on the sidewalk, looking up and down the street as if he was expecting her to jump out from behind a car and yell ‘Boo!’ or something.

Daniel slammed the door shut and locked it. “You think she has a habit of drugging people who refuse to let her interview them?”

“If she wants it bad enough. If she smells a huge story? Look at Davis. Those drugs worked like a truth serum. I guess she left when she realized you had gone to bed without touching the drink.”

Daniel shook his head. “Doesn’t change anything. If I had taken that drink…”

“I would have dragged you out of there in time,” Jack said fiercely.

“And if Paul had gone back to the party looking for me… Or if she had tried to interview him instead of me?”

“But he didn’t. And she hasn’t. Daniel, we can’t discuss this out here, damnit...”

“Paul knows, Jack. He has probably known for years because you had to go cave man on him! And even if he didn’t fully believe it back then, he put two and two together tonight.” Daniel kept his voice low, but every word came out bitingly harsh and when Jack flinched like he had been whipped it generated a brief bolt of grim satisfaction.

“Fine! I’ll shoot him,” Jack snarled. “Now, stop it!”

“No, you stop it!” Daniel huffed. “You basically TOLD him years ago that I was yours, you stupid son of a bitch.”

“I didn’t tell him squat!” Jack came around the car and towards him, grabbed him by the collar of his leather jacket and dragged him onto the sidewalk. “Let’s get outta here! Now!”

Daniel had no problem twisting out of the grip. They weren’t playing games anymore. He blocked Jack’s arm and pushed him hard against the trunk of the car. “You threatened to beat him up!”

“Why don’t you yell it a little louder for the people in the back?” Jack snapped. “And while we’re at it, he knows you love me. Care to share why?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t tell him!” Daniel walked away without looking back. He entered the Mayflower’s lobby and handed the car keys to the night porter. Then he headed straight to the elevators.

There was no music coming from the Palm Court anymore. The party was apparently over.

Jack caught up just when the doors opened and slipped in behind him. “Guy at the desk said your room is ready.”

“Fine.”

They were leaning on the opposite walls of the elevator car, facing each other. Jack’s face looked haggard, there were dark rings under his eyes. Daniel thought he probably looked worse. Or maybe he just felt worse.

“Come to bed with me.”

“No.” He wanted to be alone. To sort himself out. He lowered his head and wrapped both arms around himself.

“Don’t.” Jack said, voice soft. “Don’t shut me out.”

“I need to shower. And sleep.”

“So do I.”

“Back off,” Daniel warned.

When the doors opened he brushed past Jack and went to his room without looking back, swiped the card through the slit, pushed the door open and slammed it shut behind him. Of course that didn’t work since hotel room doors had this weird mechanism that always made them close slowly and softly.

There was an overwhelming scent of orchid room freshener. But also new clean bed sheets and no trace of vomit anywhere.

Daniel felt like kicking the wall. He was so damn angry. Angry with Paul. Angry with Donovan.

He was pissed with Jack, too. For something he had done years ago. For losing control and giving in to his damn jealous streak.

Anger had been his initial reaction, too, to being sent to the bathroom after shooting his cum all over Jack during that desperate painful orgasm once the cock ring had come off.

He toed off his shoes, stripped and tossed his clothes onto the bottom of his closet.

Taking out his contact lenses was a great relief.

Showering was a downright bliss. He set the shower head to as hard as possible and enjoyed being needled by hot water as he washed his hair and scrubbed himself clean with the shower gel the hotel provided. It felt great. And at the same time, washing Jack off him somehow made the realization of how the evening had turned from amazing to totally downhill even more painful.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of just standing there and letting the water slosh over him.

When he finally stepped out and toweled off, he looked in the mirror over the sink. He stepped closer to examine the hickeys on his neck and on top of his right shoulder. They were both swollen and dark. He touched them and saw his lips twitch in a tentative smirk. He let his hands wander down his body, to his hips. Jack’s fingerprints were exactly where he had known they would be.

 _Sorry, Paul, I’m just not the romantic kind of guy_ , he thought as he brushed his teeth.

If the rest of the night had gone as planned Jack would have ended up with some marks of his own. Daniel gave as good as he got. He was a pretty demanding sub and he owned Jack as much as Jack owned him.

But the _craving_ to be owned, to be taken and claimed, was all Daniel’s.

Jack didn’t mind to bottom, he enjoyed being on the receiving end and Daniel liked being on top when he was in the mood for it or if Jack asked him to. They could go months being perfectly happy with making love in that playful normal way most people probably did. And then it crept up on them again; the want, the need. Like the itch that had to be scratched or it became agonizingly painful. And whenever they crossed the line from vanilla sex, whenever they stripped down to the very core of their raw needs, Daniel was sub. Jack was dom.

It was what it was. They were both wired that way. And they were in perfect sync.

Daniel had planned this vacation from the very day Jack had told him about Kinsey’s party. He had asked LD if he’d rather stay home and the kid had said yes, but only if he didn’t have to stay with Sam and Pete or at the SGC for the four days. They had negotiated, Daniel had agreed to make a deal with Jack and LD had looked at him with raised eyebrows and wished him good luck. “Work with me and we’ll both get what we want,” Daniel had coaxed.

Together they had approached Jack and winning him over had been a lot easier than they had expected. Probably because Jack had seen the opportunity, too.

Now here they were. After two weeks of careful planning and luscious anticipation of four days of undisturbed unfiltered and downright dirty love making.

And tonight they had almost been made. Because of some ego-driven reporter with no boundaries and one love driven Air Force colonel.

Now Daniel was going to bed alone in a room smelling of orchids.

He hadn’t expected to get much sleep. His mind usually refused to slow down when he was in a mood like this, but apparently his body took over and shut everything off because when he slowly roused from a weird dream of being buried under a ton of chocolate hearts and huge red rose petals he found himself firmly wrapped up in a living blanket of arms and one leg.

“Told ya to back off,” he mumbled into the hollow of Jack’s neck.

“I did.”

“Didn’t.”

They had a very clear rule about this. If one of them needed space, the other one had to respect that.

Jack rubbed his nose against Daniel’s cheek. “I’ll go if that’s what you really want.”

Except sometimes they both said one thing and wanted the exact other thing. And then it was upon the other one to figure it out.

“Did you…” Daniel made a half-hearted try to untangle himself from the cocoon that was Jack’s body.

“…check for bugs again? Yeah. You didn’t even stir.” Jack loosened his hold a little, giving him the opportunity to retreat. “I also checked the hallway properly. No cameras. Seems we got damn lucky tonight.”

Daniel yawned and chose to stay right where he was.

“Daniel?” Jack nuzzled his temple.

“Mh?”

“We good?”

“We’re in bed together. I’d say we’re good, yeah.” Daniel turned his head and their lips met.

“I’m sorry.” Jack sounded uncharacteristically timid.

“For?”

“Uh, for losing it with Davis… back then. And for being a total dick just now. I was mad and you kept going on about it…”

“I was mad, too. Shouldn’t have brought it up in the middle of the street.”

“I guess something had to give, huh?” Jack tightened his arms around him again and Daniel did the same, squeezing back in a silent apology of his own.

“It was a close call,” Daniel whispered into the darkness, his cheek against Jack’s, skin on skin.

“Yeah. Very close.” There was no sarcasm this time, no trying to joke it off. A finger trailed up and down his spine, then Jack’s hand settled on the back of his neck. “No one’s getting between us.”

“You’d go to jail.” It wasn’t news to them. But tonight it had hit a lot closer to home. “This is a lot bigger than just you and me and LD. The SGC needs you, the program needs you.”

Though, when it came down to it, if Daniel was brutally honest with himself his first and foremost fear was losing his family. He had lost his family before. More than once. He wasn’t sure he could go through this again. He could see it unfold before his inner eye. Jack going to jail, Daniel losing his job, the kid being moved into the social system again because Daniel wasn’t sure he would get custody for him after a scandal like this even though he was listed as LD’s only living relative.

“Actually, the program needs you. You and Carter. And the kid. Davis and Weir are right. They should give you a medal. Should’ve done it years ago.”

Daniel snorted. “I have no use for a medal. And stop gushing, Jack. That doesn’t suit you.”

“It’s true. I’m just there to watch your six-es. As for going to jail… the president’s a good friend of mine. And if he’s really going to repeal DADT…” Jack trailed off.

Daniel thought back to how they had been egging each other on at the party and had to grin at the irony of it.

Jack pushed against him. “What?”

“Hm?”

“I can feel you grinning.”

“We were really asking for it tonight with those texts and all. And then it turns out that no matter how careful we were at the party we could still have been screwed just because Paul got drugged.”

“And because he knows way more than he’s supposed to know,” Jack cautioned.

“Which brings us back to your slip after that DHD blew up.”

Jack groaned. “He was going to make a pass at you. _In a bar crammed with military guys._ Not to mention him and Chekov singing Russian army songs. People were getting a tad annoyed. Actually, the situation was a bit similar to tonight. And no one had spiked his drink then.”

“You wanted to protect him as much as keeping him away from me.” This hadn’t occurred to him until now, but it was so Jack. And just like that Daniel felt whatever had been left of his earlier grudge fade away like smoke in the wind.

Jack shrugged. “Davis is one of the good guys. But, boy, how he manages to keep his job and not land himself in prison is beyond me.”

“He once told me he rarely drinks.”

“Ye-ah, smart choice. He should stick to that.”

Daniel reached up and caressed the old scar over Jack’s left eye, then trailed a finger down the angular face. “He said you don’t deserve me.”

Jack winced. “He’s probably right about that.”

“Paul is in no position to judge whom I chose to be with.” Daniel’s finger brushed over Jack’s throat, down to his graying chest hair and circled one of his nipples. “He doesn’t have a clue.”

“He knows you have feelings for... me.” Jack let out a slow breath as Daniel rubbed the hard nub between two fingertips. “He said, he… watched us.”

“He jumped to assumptions. Most people who’ve been working with us probably think we’re an old married couple anyway. But I guess Paul got the wrong picture there.” Daniel moved on to Jack’s other nipple. There was a halfmoon shaped scar underneath it. He couldn’t see it in the dark and even by daylight it was barely visible anymore, but Daniel knew it was there and he brushed over it.

“Old married couple, eh? Odd couple’s more like it,” Jack murmured distractedly.

Daniel straddled Jack and replaced his hands with his mouth, sucking on one nipple, then on the other. “This is what I wanted to do once I got the dress blues off you.”

“Knock yerself out,” Jack encouraged him.

“Mmmmaybe I should find that cock ring, put it on you and keep you hard and begging while I keep doing this.” He nipped at Jack’s skin with his teeth.

“Not tonight, you’re not.” But there was a moan and a gasp.

“Oh, you know me and rules… orders… and I know you want… whoa!” Daniel pushed back into the hands clamping down on him and fiercely pulling his buttocks apart.

“You were saying?” Jack’s long fingers stroked up and down Daniel’s crack and manipulated his rosebud.

“I dunno… lost track…”

“Good. C’mon. Mouth. Teeth. Skin.”

Daniel swallowed and licked his lips. “I don’t know, am very distracted back there.”

“Mouth… teeth… skin…” Jack let go of his butt only long enough to pull his head down until they were nose to chest. Daniel chuckled and started a journey of licking, kissing and biting a hot path all over Jack’s upper body, leaving his own mark here and there while Jack’s fingers did incredible thrilling things to his entrance and perineum.

When he was about to move further down to Jack’s navel, Jack squeezed his butt to stop his movement.

Daniel raised his head and their eyes locked.

“What do you need?” Jack asked, voice hoarse and thick with want. “Anything… just tell me.”

Daniel nuzzled Jack’s chest hair, inhaling deeply. Taking in his scent. “As you just pointed out, the night isn’t over, mon General. You know me best. Give it to me.”

Jack’s hands applied more pressure on his butt. “Move up here, let me teach you a thing or two about good tongue action.”

He moved into position, kneeling over Jack’s face and holding onto the headboard of the bed with both hands. Jack ‘s hands were back on his butt and he breathed hot air over Daniel’s erection. “Just a head’s up here… If you start talking Russian again I’m going to stop.”

"J'ai envie de toi," Daniel whispered in his dirtiest voice.French always worked like a charm. And Jack was pretty fluent in dirty-talk in several languages by now. Daniel prided himself in being a good teacher. “Mange-moi, mon General.”

“God, yeah… gonna feast on you…”

Daniel arched his back when he was engulfed in the slippery wetness and the warmth of Jack’s mouth. His fingers went numb from clutching the headboard but he didn’t care. All he felt was Jack. His lips, his tongue, his hands, his fingers… all of it seemed to be everywhere and Daniel was spiraling into his second orgasm tonight. Only this time it was exactly how he wanted it to be, how he needed it. He let it consume him, allowed himself to drown in it and he howled and yelled Jack’s name and Jack sucked and swallowed and in the end they collapsed onto one another, holding onto each other, sharing Daniel-flavored kisses while Daniel reached down to bring Jack off as well with just a couple of firm sucks.

Before Daniel slipped away into an exhausted, but peaceful, sleep he heard Jack whisper, “Je t’aime, mon amour,” into his ear.

  
TBC

_French words:_

_J'ai envie de toi_

_I want you_

_“Mange-moi”_

_Eat me_


	7. VII

  
  


VII

Jack tossed the disposable razor into the trashcan under the sink and rubbed a hand over his jaw to check for any whiskers he might have missed. He was used to his own straight razor, but all his toiletries were in his own room except for his toothbrush and the clean clothes he had brought with him last night when he had snuck into Daniel’s bed.

He had to give the Mayflower credit for its great amenities. Everything was there; from soap, shower gel, hair wash to razors, shaving cream and deodorant. Jack had even seen hygiene products for women, condoms and a small bottle of lube in one of the small baskets on the bathroom shelf. They had brought their own, but it was still neat. It had been a long time since he’d had the luxury of staying at a place like this.

And yet, he wished they could have gone to the cabin. Would have saved them a hell of a lot of trouble, too.

He scratched at one of Daniel’s bite marks right under his collarbone. There was another one on his left ribcage and one closer to his groin. Jack liked wearing traces of Daniel on his body. Daniel was a passionate guy in everything he did and being the object of that passion always pushed his own desire to new heights. Even after all these years they kept fueling each other.

He heard Daniel talk ing to the room service in the main room.

Breakfast. Finally.

They had decided not to go down to eat. They were both still a little rattled by what had happened last night and opted for plan b. B, as in breakfast in bed.

There was a knock and Daniel’s raspy , ‘I had sex most of the night and feel hungover’ voice. “All clear.”

Excellent.

“I’m starving,” Jack announced when he strolled back into the main room where Daniel was shrugging out of the white fluffy bathrobe with the golden Mayflower logo on the lapels.

“How can you be hungry after sucking my brain out through my dick last night?”

“That was protein. I need carbs now. A good diet needs balance.”

Jack’s eyes took the grand tour of Daniel’s body, lingering on the hickeys. And the bruises on his hips. Those were Jack’s fingerprints and they would stay with Daniel for a while. He stifled the immediate urge to apologize. While Jack liked wearing Daniel’s marks, Daniel needed this on a far deeper level.

And yet, seeing those bruises the next morning and knowing he had been the one who put them there always generated a fleeting moment of guilt and he had to remind himself that Daniel actually demanded this. A nd no matter how hard they pretended that Jack was in charge here – Daniel was calling the shots. There was no chance in hell he would do anything in bed he wasn’t happily willing to do.

Jack moved in on him and dropped a gentle kiss on the hickey at his pulse point. That one had a special meaning for both of them. Once Ba’al had marked him there and later Daniel had ordered Jack to re-claim him, to put his own mark over Ba’al’s. Now, even five years later, whenever they got into this kind of mindset Jack did it again.

“Look at us,” Daniel laughed and moved them around so they could see themselves in the floor to ceiling mirror by the door. “Paul wanted to feed me chocolate and lay me down in a bed of roses… and all I get from you is bruises, and a terrific pain in the ass whenever I sit down.”

“I can do chocolate and roses,” Jack offered. “Or I can cover you with melted chocolate and lick it off you. Everywhere.”

“That would be my job since I’m the sweet junkie here,” Daniel grinned.

“Beer, then. There’s a tub in there.” Jack nodded in the general direction of the bathroom.

“You are a dirty old man.”

“Birds of a feather…”

Breakfast was probably overrated. Then again the smell of eggs and bacon was overwhelmingly alluring.

“Coffee’s getting cold,” Daniel muttered between kisses. “And I’d actually like to eat something before we have to deal with Paul.”

“Ohhh, that.” What a way to destroy the mood.

“Yeah, that.”

They slipped under the covers, arranged the bed tray and dug in. It was a breakfast for one, but there was still plenty of food for both of them. They fed each other crispy strips of bacon, scrambled eggs, French toast and strawberries with whipped cream. They sipped from the same mug and exchanged coffee flavored kisses.

“Feels like a honeymoon,” Jack mused when he leaned back and rubbed his full stomach. “Nice!”

“We’ve never done this before,” Daniel said, wonder in his voice. “A vacation at a hotel with room service, breakfast in bed. We’ve always gone to the cabin. Because it’s the safest place to be undisturbed and…” Daniel shrugged.

“...have loud uninterrupted sex. I still see the advantage of that after last night,” Jack deadpanned.

Daniel snorted, but sobered quickly. “We should tell Paul,” he said.

“Tell him what? He already knows. I don’t think he needs more intel.” Especially not after last night. Jack had constantly been torn between wishing for Thor to beam him out of here and the very strong urge to kill Davis. It had been the most disturbing thing he’d had to deal with in quite a while.

“I had the impression he’s…” Daniel cringed, “worried.”

“About what?” The only thing Davis had to be worried about was Jack coming after him if he didn’t keep quiet about last night. But that shouldn’t be an issue.

“Paul seems to think I’m hopelessly in love with you while you think you own me like a… possession? Trophy? What was it he said last night?”

“’He acted as if you were his. Like you’re some trophy to put on a wall’ were his exact words.” Jack hadn’t forgotten that. And it didn’t sound in any way less disgusting than it had last night.

Daniel dropped back against the headboard of the bed and stretched leisurely. “Yeah, I was pretty pissed about that last night, too.”

“And now you’re… not?” Because Jack still was. And not being able to set Davis straight about a couple of things had been hard.

Daniel’s voice was firm but calm. “Well, as you so very effectively demonstrated last night you _do_ own me…”

 _What?_ “Whoa, Daniel! Not like that…”

Jack’s hand was grabbed and squeezed to shut him up. Daniel laced their fingers together and they both looked down at their hands and then at each other.

“ _Daniel_?” If Jack didn’t know better he would think Daniel was going to propose to him. And he was almost shocked at the small pang of regret because it was the one thing that wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Maybe never.

Three years ago when they had spent Christmas at his parent’s house in Minnesota Jack had asked Daniel if he would tie the knot with him if things were different. If same sex marriage were legal. If there was no DADT.

Daniel had said yes.

And even though Jack never planned on getting married again – even if marrying Daniel was a possibility – it had meant something.

“I’m... only going to say this once and I swear, if try to joke this off or play it down I’m going to hit you where it really hurts.” He paused as if he was waiting for Jack to object.

Jack squeezed his hand back.

“Right. I’m… um... No one has ever owned me the way you do. All of me. Not even Sha’uri. And she came pretty close.” Daniel’s fervent eyes were on Jack, holding his gaze. “This ‘owning me’ … the way it _feels_ to me… it’s not about my body or the sex, Jack. This isn’t about who’s sub or dom. This is about my... heart, maybe even…” Daniel faded out, but his lips were silently adding two more words.

_My soul._

He blinked. “I just...”

Jack put a gentle finger on Daniel’s mouth. “I know,” he said softly. “It’s very mutual.”

There were too many feelings to put them into words. Daniel was the guy with the words and even he struggled with saying it out loud. Because it went way beyond _I love you_. Even after all these years, Jack was sometimes spooked by how intense this thing between him and Daniel was. Hell, he hadn’t even known hewas capable of feeling this deeply.

He had loved Sara more than anyone he’d known before. He still believed their relationship had been as real as it could have been back then.

But Daniel?

Daniel had left his fingerprint on Jack’s soul. They held each other’s hearts in their hands and that was what Colonel I’m-in-love-with-Daniel Davis would never understand.

Because this was only between them. No one else got to see this far below the surface. It was sacred. He and Daniel. Daniel and him. And on yet another level him, Daniel and LD. The bonds holding this family together were stronger and more complex than anything Jack had ever experienced in his life.

Daniel let out a slow long breath, gently pulled his hand out of Jack’s, crossed his arms over his chest and gazed at the ceiling. “Wow, that was…”

“Yeah.” Jack mirrored his posture. The fan up there was kind of interesting.

“I mean I’m not… sure where that just came from, but…”

“Oh, probably…”

“...all the sex messing with …”

“...hormones?”

Daniel cleared his throat. “Yeah. So. Anyway… I’m not mad at Paul. But I want him to know this… us… isn’t what he believes it is. Because I need him to move on. And he might be more willing to do that if he knows.”

“Okay.”

Daniel grinned and then, out of the blue, reached out, clamped a hand around the back of Jack’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss that started a battle of tongues. They slid down, their heads hitting the bunched up pillows, their hands grabbing and clutching at shoulders and biceps.

“Ohhh, Davis is in for an epiphany,” Jack moaned when he came up for air.

Daniel licked his lips. “No threats, though. Watch the attitude.”

“Hey, I’m a teddy bear, you know that! I’mmmmm...” Jack was shut up efficiently by Daniel’s tongue conquering his mouth again.

A dangerous clatter coming from the bed tray made them freeze. “We can’t make another mess in here again,” Daniel groaned and buried his flushed face in the hollow of Jack’s neck. “And we really should get dressed.”

They untangled from one another very carefully and then lay on their backs looking at the tray. The leftover cold coffee had spilled over the plates and cutlery, the bowl of whipped cream had toppled over and its content had merged with the leftover scrambled eggs. But nothing had soiled the sheets or comforter.

“You got lucky, you messy little slut, you,” Jack snorted.

“Prick.” Daniel said affectionately.

“Language, Doctor Linguist.” Jack started mopping up coffee and whipped cream with one of the napkins before he lifted the tray off the bed and settled it carefully on the floor.

Just when he was about to heave his butt out of bed his phone started playing the Simpson Theme. “It’s Little-you.” He hoped for the best and answered the call with an upbeat, “Tell me everything’s peachy at home?”

“Everything’s peachy,” came the prompt reply.

“Good. How ya doin’? Miss us yet?”

“Extremely. We had more snow last night and I went out and shoveled the driveway this morning. It’s freakin’ cold. How is DC?”

“Nice and no snow,” Jack reported.

“Lucky you! How was the party?”

Jack and Daniel exchanged a look. “Boring,” they both said. “Staying home was a smart choice,” Jack added.

“I’m a smart guy,” LD reminded him. “Did Kinsey choke on his cake?”

“We didn’t stay long enough to watch him eat cake, but I’m afraid he didn’t,” Jack said with regret.

“General Hammond says hi,” Daniel said. “And the president, too.”

“Cool. Did you see Paul?”

Daniel bit his lip and Jack said, “Yeah, he says hi, too.”

“How is he?”

“Hungover. I guess.”

“Hungover? Paul rarely ever drinks. He must have been in a real party mood,” LD laughed.

Daniel slapped both hands over his face.

“Oh yeah, he was an animal.” Jack couldn’t help himself.

Daniel lowered his hands and mouthed _Stop it._ And it was only then that Jack realized he was shaking with suppressed laughter.

This whole disaster with Davis was a weird combination of embarrassment and the downright horror of how it could have ended. Jack couldn’t blame Daniel for being a bit hysterical.

But they had to keep in mind there was something… someone… else behind the whole Davis thing.

“Paul the party animal. Right. Very funny, Jack,” LD said.

Jack cleared his throat. “Hey, Daniel… where are you right now?”

“Home. Going to the warehouse in a bit though. Gray is picking me up. Why?”

“Go out on the deck. Don’t say anything, just go.”

There was some rustle and a moment later he was back. “I’m outside. Closed the door, too. What’s up?”

“When you walked the dog last night or this morning, did you notice any strange cars parkedon our street or close by?”

“You mean like black sedans or delivery vans? The kind of cars used for stake outs?”

“Yep.”

“No, no suspicious cars. Why? What’s going on?” There was a new alertness in LD’s voice and Jack knew he had his full attention.

“Probably nothing. Maybe something. I don’t know yet. But we’ve run into a bit of trouble with some TV reporter here. And she seems to know stuff. They’re investigating her already, but there’s a chance her sources are ex NID. And she specifically approached BD and me.”

“Do you need me to call Sam and Pete to do a bug check on the house?”

“Nope, if there’s no stake out car that shouldn’t be necessary.” There weren’t any deserted houses in their neighborhood for anyone to use either. Plus, Jack had done a bug sweep last week and come up clear. He no longer did them as frequently as he used to when the NID had still been such an annoying pain in the mik’ta,trying to get their hands on Little D, but he still checked out of habit, especially when the house hadn’t been occupied for a couple of days. They had a pretty good alarm system at the house, but Jack opted for better safe than sorry.

“What exactly does she know?” LD asked.

“No clue, we blocked all her attempts to get an interview. Paul has initiated an investigation,” Daniel said. “But until we know who her sources are, we have to be a bit on guard.”

“There’s a sticker on the camera of your laptop, right?” Jack asked. It was unwritten law. Cameras were covered in their house, phones were kept in magnetic cases. But it couldn’t hurt to emphasize this. Jack knew LD and his friends sometimes did video chats on skype.

“I always cover it when I’m not skyping, yes,” LD assured him. “And I always keep the laptop closed when I’m not on it. You should call the IT nerds though and have them check if there’s a security leak somewhere in the mountain’s computer system,” LD suggested. “I can take mine and BD’s laptop in tomorrow and have them checked for spy software, too.”

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah,” he sighed. “Oy. Did I mention lately how much I miss Hammond being in charge instead of me?”

“Jack, you’ve been in charge for close to five years now. Get over it,” LD sniggered. Then he sighed. “Do you want me to pack my stuff and stay at the mountain until you’re back?”

“No,” Daniel said.

“You’d do that?” Jack asked, amazed.

“If it’d make you feel better and help you enjoy the rest of your vacation, then yes,” LD grumbled.

“Who are you and what did you do to the brat I’m calling my son?”

“Well, I can’t have you fretting all the time and ruining everything for Daniel.”

”Ah, yes, that sounds more like you, thank you. I was worried there for a moment.”

There was a snort and a, “You’re welcome.”

“There’s no need,” Daniel grabbed the phone. “Stay where you are, there’s no danger. It’s disclosure they want. Not downsized archaeologists.”

Jack snatched his phone back. “Good idea to take the laptops in though. I left mine at the mountain. I’ll call the tech whizzes.”

“You guys be careful, okay?” LD said quietly. “Don’t let them spy on you. Are you leaving today?”

“Yes,” Daniel confirmed with a smile and Jack made a mental note to get to the bottom of this _leaving today_ part that kept coming up.

“Cool.” There was definitely a smile in LD’s voice, too.

When Jack had disconnected the call, he immediately dialed Carter and told her what had happened – leaving out all the juicy details – and ordered her to assist the IT nerds. Once he had put all her worries to rest – yes, he and Daniel were fine, yes, Davis would be okay and no, they weren’t planning to come home early – she became all business like and was already jotting down possible sources for Donovan’s intel. Ex NID, rogue IOA, the Trust… “Might be Kinsey,” she ended her little list of suspects. “She was invited to his party. Couldn’t hurt to look into it.”

“He invited a bunch of press folk. He had a press conference about this birthday party.” Jack rolled his eyes.

“Oh, okay. Wow.”

“Yeah, decadent, isn’t it? See if you get a box of donuts for the tech guys at the commissary. I found they work best high on sugar.”

“I’m on it, sir. But I still want to check some names and see if I can come up with something.”

“You do that. Keep me posted.”

“Yes, sir. Enjoy your leave. And say hi to Daniel.”

When Jack lowered his phone, he scowled. “Maybe you were on to something last night. Could be Kinsey who’s behind this. Just not for the reasons you thought he was.”

Daniel frowned. “Kinsey as Donovan’s source?”

“Think about it.” Jack got up and went for his pants to retrieve his official phone. “He wants to be president. What’s the perfect way to discredit Hayes?”

“Huge misappropriation of tax money and concealment of the Stargate program from the people.”

“Exactly.”

“Imagine Kinsey being the one to enlighten American citizens,” Daniel said slowly. “And promising to refund all that tax money.”

“He’d be president like…,” Jack snapped his fingers. Then he called the mountain and let the IT guys know Carter would brief them and that this assignment had top priority.

“It would explain why she got an invite to the party, but not to the press conference,” Daniel said slowly. “He got her into the party to confront one of us. He must know we don’t do interviews so he gave permission for her to drug me, get any information she wants – and Kinsey’s name would never come up in any of her stories, not even if she had to reveal her sources. If she had recorded my answers to her questions…”

“You’d be labeled as her source and made a whistleblower.” Jack ground out. “That rat bastard. I should’ve shoved cake down his throat until he choked on it.”

“And even if I had appeared to be totally off in her interview, they’d just chalk it up to me being drunk. Remember how Paul let us re-dress him and take him to Hope Zion just like that? She probably thought she’d drag me to my room, get all the information she wanted and let me sleep it off. I might not even have remembered any of it today.”

“Date rape drugs are only traceable in your system for 12 hours,” Jack said flatly.

“We need to get Paul to deal with this. He initiated the investigation on Donovan, maybe he can talk to her and figure out if our theory is valid.” Daniel started dressing himself and Jack followed suit.

Time to face Davis.

Maybe it was more a matter of Davis having to face them, though. Because Jack suspected all this was way more embarrassing for the good colonel.

 _And he better be grateful we babysat him through this_ , he thought grimly. After all, he and Daniel had sacrificed a large part of the night.

And gotten a very sobering reminder of how fragile their little world was. How easily they could get busted. Daniel was right. This had been a very close call.

The SGC was a fairly safe haven because Hammond had made it so. Created a fortress that was sheltered from the enemy out there as well as the enemy from within. They were a well-functioning microcosm, a close knit community. And Jack had done his best to keep it that way when he had taken over from Hammond.

No one under his command had to live in fear of being brought up on chargesfor loving the wrong gender and if it ever came to his attention that someone on his base was harassed for their sexuality – or otherwise – he would put a swift end to it.

But they couldn’t forget that they were still being watched from the outside. And that what they were doing was against military law and could cost them far more than just Jack’s career.

_One spiked drink could be all it takes to destroy us. Someone getting hold of our private phones and hacking the PIN codes. Someone bugging our cars._

He felt his jaw clench with a sudden burst of anger. He had to protect his family… a family he had no right to be a part of. For years now they had lived in some gray area of DADT with no legal right to call themselves a family. He and Daniel were each others next of kin. Jack was LD’s adoptive father and Daniel was – going by the cover story – his uncle. It had been the best way, the only way, to make sure one of themgot custody of the kid in case the other one died. Because in their line of work that had always been what they considered the worst case scenario.

Going against military code by being in a same sex relationship, including the well known consequences if they got caught, had always seemed an acceptable price to pay in the light of what they had to deal with on a daily basis. Somewhere in the back of his head Jack might have believed their hero-status would save him from going to jail and that he’d probably get away with being discharged. Or not even that since they had been the SGC’s flagship team.

They had saved the world, maybe the whole damn galaxy, on several occasions. They had been needed out there.

He remembered how he had said this very thing to his mom three years ago when he had come out to his parents and she had expressed concern. That he might be dishonorably discharged or just sent into retirement, but that he didn’t think he’d go to jail.

He had even said it to Daniel last night.

And yet… wasn’t that an arrogant assumption?

While they still had that hero-status, things had been calmer around the Milky Way’s water cooler for some time now and maybe they weren’t as irreplaceable anymore as they used to be.

Especially if Kinsey’s little plot had come to fruition.

“Jack?” Daniel had stuffed the colonel’s dress blues including his phone, wallet and ID into a plastic bag he had originally packed for his own dirty laundry and was now waiting by the door. “I checked the hallway. It’s clear.”

Jack was tired of having to watch their steps. They had been doing it for so long now it had become part of who they were. Having two phones, checking the environment for unwanted eyes, having separate hotel rooms, separate homes, driving into work in separate cars and always half an hour apart from one another, making up stories for when they were seen in town together.

He was oh-so-tired of it.

But he was also trapped with no way out. They both were. At least until the kid didn’t need their protection anymore. Or until DADT was really repealed. But despite what Davis had told them last night, Jack wasn’t holding his breath.

When they were riding down to the lobby Daniel looked at him as if he was reading his mind, his eyes dark and knowing.

As soon as they stepped out of the elevator Ed approached them with a very nervous young man in tow. “General O’Neill, Doctor Jackson… this is Clark Desmond. He worked at the bar last night. Follow me, please?”

They left the lobby through the same hallway they had used last night and ended up in a small storage room stuffed with stacked chairs and tables shoved against one wall.

Jack quickly assessed the pale kid with the short cropped blond hair and watery blue eyes before him and decided intimidation wasn’t the way to go here. “So, Clark… mind if I call you Clark?”

“No, sir.” Mister Desmond licked his lips and blinked rapidly.

“Cool, I’m Jack. This is not an interrogation, okay? We just need you to answer a couple of questions.”

Questioning the kid was done in under ten minutes. Daniel googled Miss Donovan and showed Clark a picture of her on his phone and he identified her right away. Said she had ordered the Mai Tai and insisted to serve it to Daniel herself.

“She said she wanted to impress a guy and ask him out. Asked me for a tray and tipped me ten dollars. It’s not unusual for that to happen so I didn’t think anything of it. She was very charming, too, sir.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Daniel said with a grim smile. “Did you see her put something into the drink?”

Clark shook his head. “No. She just took the tray and was gone. I didn’t seen her again after that. But there are cameras in the Palm Court, maybe she’s on tape.”

Jack raised an eyebrow in Daniel’s direction and then offered the kid a quick grin. “That’s good to know. Are there cameras on the gallery, too?” He hadn’t seen any, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“No, sir, only in the ballroom itself,” Ed answered for Clark. “We had issues with bartenders and waiters drinking on the job and taking home freebies, so the camera was installed last year.”

Clark looked from Jack to Daniel and to Ed. “Is this going to be a problem with… I mean, I’m glad to help and all, but I need this job.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Clark,” Ed assured him calmly. “No one is blaming you. You can go back to work now.”

Clark nodded and scurried out of the room. Ed cast them an apologetic look. “If you need to talk to the waiter who delivered the drink, I’ll have to call him in, he is off work today. However, I can check the camera tape from last night right away. I can’t give you a copy without a warrant, but you could follow me to the security surveillance room and … wait there while I watch it.”

Jack decided he liked this guy.

Forty minutes later, Ed led them back out into the lobby. “Oh, before I forget. I found your friend’s coat in the cloakroom.” He walked over to his desk and returned with a clothes bag.

“I’ll take it. We are going to see him now.” Daniel said. “Thank you, Ed. For your help.” He opened it and shoved the plastic bag with Davis’ dress blues in there.

“Anytime,” the concierge said with a quick grin, “for anything, remember? I will call for your car, Doctor Jackson.”

“Daniel. And thanks for, uh… having someone take care of the room in the middle of the night. That was… very embarrassing.”

Jack looked at the ceiling.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ed said smoothly. “Oh, General O’Neill… your dress blues are at the cleaners and should be back in your room by noon.”

That man was almost as efficient as Walter.

  
  


Unlike Colorado Springs where they still had snow and ice and temperatures around 12 degrees Washington DC presented them with a sunny morning, 50 degrees and no wind.

As soon as they were in the car, Jack did a bug check. He was pretty sure Miss Julia Donovan wasn’t capable of bugging a car, but her mysterious source might have been forthcoming in her favor. And he was on alert now. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice… Jack wasn’t taking any chances.

The car was clear.

They weren’t followed either.

Jack wondered briefly if last night had ‘cured’ Daniel of his dress blues kink. He would probably find out sooner or later.

They were almost there when Daniel suddenly asked, “You had the suit cleaned already?”

“They don’t know me around here and I called Ed last night when we got back and he sent someone up to get it right away.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“Apparently he takes his ‘anytime for anything’ reputation very seriously.”

“And here I thought he just genuinely liked me,” Daniel sighed.

“If I had them cleaned at the Springs there might have been… raised eyebrows. Some guy ejaculated all over it.”

“Ewww, that’s disgusting. Who would do such a thing?”

“Someone with a very exquisite taste in Air Force generals.” Jack smirked.

Daniel burst out laughing. “You’re so full of it, O’Neill.” Then he looked over and grinned. “Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Yeah, to you, too.”

They had never done Valentine’s Day. It was just some made-up holiday to force people to leave tons of money with florists and chocolatiers or bakeries.

Somehow this year things were a little different. Might have been this unexpected vacation that had set it off, Jack wasn’t sure.

But he knew something was up. And he had arranged for a special something as well. Now he hoped their plans weren’t going to clash.

“So, Daniel… where are we going today?”

“Going?” Daniel gave him a questioning look.

“When that feisty little doctor asked you how long we’ll be in DC you said we are leaving today and returning on Tuesday. And I know the kid is in on it. Sometimes I actually do listen to what you guys say.”

“Ahhh, that.” There was the cat that got the cream kind of grin again. “Last night I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to do this, but I think we both deserve it even more now.”

“Deserve _what_?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“C’mon, you know I hate surprises….”

“Not this one, you won’t.” Daniel leaned back and kept smiling.

Jack waited him out. He’d be so eager to tell him he wouldn’t last long. But Daniel was still just silently smiling when they left the highway.

“Can you at least tell me when we have to leave for this surprise of yours?” Jack finally asked.

“Why? You have other plans?”

“Maybe.” Jack squinted at his watch. “You’re not the only one who can come up with surprises.”

Daniel frowned. “What is it?”

Now it was his turn to just sit and smile and let Daniel do the guessing until they arrived at Hope Zion.

TBC

  
  



	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Sorry for the long wait, but real life got in the way and then I had to re-write part of this because it just didn't feel right. Major thanks and hugs to Char for betaing part of this twice, you rock, girlfriend!
> 
> To make up for the delay you'll get a very loooong chapter. 
> 
> Have fun!

  
  


VIII

Paul was still a little pale and featured very impressive eye bags, but the IV was gone and he was sitting on his bed, wearing Jack’s black T-Shirt and gray sweatpants. He must have taken a shower, too. His hair was still damp.

Daniel put the clothes bag over the back of a chair while they were trying to bridge the awkwardness of the first couple of minutes with small talk.

“Doctor Lin was here a moment ago and handed me my discharge papers. The results will be back tonight or tomorrow morning. She also told me she is going to send a copy of my results to Doctor Fraiser. We decided I’m going to contact her with any questions I might have.” He grimaced. “Thanks, by the way, for the John Doe thing. It’s going to save me a lot of trouble.” Paul sounded like a grater. He looked from Daniel to Jack and back to Daniel. “This is the most embarrassing… Daniel, can I talk to you in private for a minute?”

Jack was already on his way to the door, but Daniel took hold of the sleeve of his jacket to stop him. “No. Anything you want to tell me concerns Jack, too. Especially if you want to repeat some of what you said to me last night.”

Paul’s already pale face turned ashen when realization hit and his eyes settled on Jack. “You were there the whole time. You heard it all. Whatever I said aside from telling Daniel how I... feel. Which is pretty much the only thing I remember very clearly. Everything else is kind of… blurred.”

“Off the record… I have. For the record; I haven’t got the slightest idea what you’re talking about, Colonel.”

“I guess I owe you.” Paul winced. “And it’s probably a good thing I don’t remember too many details.”

Jack stepped closer to the bed and lowered his voice. “Look, I know you’re well aware Daniel and I are covering our own asses here, too. Let’s just agree to leave it at that. No one owes anything to anyone. No strings.”

“What happened in DC stays in DC.” Paul squinted at them.

“Let’s pretend it never happened. At all.” Daniel said.

“And whatever I told you, I’m sorry...” Paul shook his head. “Wait… did I throw up in your hotel room, Daniel?”

“All over the bed, the floor and me,” Jack provided helpfully.

Daniel nudged him. To Paul he said, “Uh, let’s pretend that never happened either.”

“Oh, great.” Paul slapped both hands over his face. “Please tell me I didn’t do anything stupid?”

“You talked a lot,” Jack said. “But you didn’t exactly ‘do’ anything. Aside from puking your guts out. And you have a nice singing voice.”

“Singing…?”

“Jack…” Daniel cleared his throat. “Look, Paul… You have to move on from this. From me.”

“Uh, after last night I will never be able to look you in the eye anymore, so that ship has sailed.” Paul gave him a sad little smile.

“You were drugged. It wasn’t your fault,” Daniel said gently. It could have been worse. It could have been _him_. Or Donovan’s plan might have worked out in her favor. THAT would have been a lot worse.

Paul shrugged. “Okay. Here goes nothing. Since I already made a total fool of myself I guess it won’t do any more damage to let you know that the way I… _feel_ …” He cast a quick glance at Jack, then looked Daniel squarely in the eyes. “The drugs made me spill my guts. I’d never have done it if I was sober. But it’s still the truth.”

“Yeah, well, get in line,” Jack said quietly. “You said it yourself; you can’t help it, it’s Daniel. Can’t blame you there.”

Paul didn’t respond to that. Instead he got up, pulled a chair over, sat down and put on his shoes. “I just want this all to be over and then I want to get up tomorrow and never think about this.”

“Good luck with that,” Jack muttered under his breath, but still loud enough for them to hear.

“Do you have a car parked at the Mayflower? We could take you back there,” Daniel offered. “Oh, and your phone, wallet and ID are in the clothes bag. With your dress blues and coat.”

“No, I had a driver. He was supposed to pick me up at my call. And now I can’t remember if I called him and what I said to him, if I said anything to him.”

A driver. Great. One more person they had to take care of if Paul had called him… and if he hadn’t called they had to find out if the driver informed anyone or tried to call Paul to ask for instructions. Daniel opened the clothes bag and retrieved Paul’s phone.

“Maybe your driver texted you?” He handed the Blackberry to Paul who checked immediately.

“No. But apparently I did. Told him I’d stay at the hotel and wished him a good night. I’ll call him when I’m home and tell him I took a cab this morning.” He stood and picked up the hoodie from the back of the chair. “General, are these your clothes…?”

“Yeah. You keep them,” Jack shrugged it off. “I know you’d rather wear Daniel’s, but we already established last night that’s not negotiable.”

“Jack!” Daniel couldn’t blame Jack for wanting to get back at Davis a little here, but he really felt sorry for Paul and didn’t want him to be needled on top of it all.

Davis looked as if he wanted to crawl back into the hospital bed and pull the blanket over his head. Instead he gritted his teeth and shoved his phone into the pocket of the sweatpants.

Jack grabbed the clothes bag. “C’mon, we’ll drive you.”

“No, I’ll take a cab…”

“Actually,” Daniel said as he opened the door and led them out into the hospital hallway, “we need to talk about something else. But not here.”

They left without seeing Doctor Lin again. Daniel would have liked to thank her once more for her help, but none of them felt like staying any longer than absolutely necessary so they walked out quickly.

Davis looked almost longingly at the row of cabs waiting for passengers in their designated area close to the hospital’s main entrance but followed them to their rental and gave Jack his home address to be put into the GPS.

Once they were in the car and on the highway, they clued Paul in on who they suspected was responsible for spiking his drink. And who they suspected of being her source.

In the rearview mirror Daniel saw Paul’s mouth turn into a thin white line. “That woman? I knew she was trouble. I knew it… but this? Oh, man.”

“We questioned the bartender. He can testify it was her who ordered the drink. But that’s not the best of it,” Jack said with a satisfied little quirk of his lips. “We got her on tape.”

“Cameras. Of course.”

“She clearly put something in that drink, stirred it with the straw and then passed it on to one of the waiters. Who then passed it on to another waiter because he already had his hands full.”

“So, this really was about disclosure of the program.” Paul cursed under his breath when he realized the magnitude of the chain reaction this could have set in motion. “And you think Kinsey is her source?”

“It makes an awful lot of sense,” Daniel said.

Paul’s hungover brain needed only a moment to put two and two together. “We probably can’t charge him for treason. It would attract too much attention, rise too many questions and lead to too many investigations.”

“Oh, but we can make him resign quietly,” Jack said with glee. “And lock him away for some subterfuge if he refuses. Like tax fraud. I’m pretty sure he’s got enough dead bodies in his closet. Just pick one.”

“We believe he wanted the program disclosed by Donovan with me being her source,” Daniel explained. “If Donovan had come out with her story he could have stepped up and pointed a finger at Hayes, make him resign or even have him impeached.”

“Yes, but in whatever way disclosure happened, he’s the vice president, no one will believe him if he states he knew nothing about the Stargate program,” Davis pointed out.

“But he could claim he had been forced to stay quiet. Threatened. The life of his family was on the line… yadda,” Jack countered.

“And if Donovan had figured it all out and revealed the program, with my traitorous help, he’d claim he’d been waiting for something like this to happen so he could finally talk about it, relieve his conscience and bring truth to America. People will quickly forget he was in the know all along. Chaos ensues, the fallout from this would be huge and affect the whole world.” Daniel presented them with a very unsettling version of ‘what could have been’.

“First we have to prove it’s really him. And then we need evidence.” Davis sounded much more like himself now. Maybe dealing with this was just the kind of normal he needed to get back on track. He fell silent for a while, staring out the side window.

But when they reached the exit to Georgetown he spoke up.

“Actually, I could use Donovan’s little drug plot to convince her to drop the whole story. Maybe it’ll encourage her to incriminate Kinsey, too, if it means she’ll get away with no charges being pressed for drugging a high-ranking officer.”

“You’re going to blackmail her. You do realize we went through a lot of trouble to keep your name out of all this?” Daniel cautioned.

“True. But Miss Donovan doesn’t know that. I’m going to pay her a visit, have a little chat with her. Give her options. Inform her of the consequences if she has trouble making the right choice.”

“Bold,” Jack said, almost smiling. “I like it.”

“Poker, sir. All I can do is bluff. Tell her I’ll press charges and bring the camera footage to court. If she isn’t intimidated, I’d have to let her go, though. But either way we’ll keep an eye on her. Because she might try again.”

“The copy of your test results Lin is going to send to Fraiser will be unlabeled. If you need them as additional leverage for Donovan, we’ll put your name on them and you can dispose of them once they have served their purpose,” Jack offered.

“Thank you, sir,” Davis said quietly from the backseat. Then he opened his phone and by the time they reached Springfield the colonel had made several phone calls. With each of those calls he regained more of his usual professional confidence.

“They tapped into her phone and are working on getting into her e-mails and computer via her IP address. No link to any source yet, but whoever is behind this won’t be stupid. She probably has a prepaid phone for contacting her source,” Paul reported when he had finished his last call.

“You put security on her last night. Why didn’t they see her tinker with the cocktail?” Jack asked grimly.

“Believe it or not, all security posted inside the Palm Court, except for the president’s personal Secret Service agents, of course, were ordered to guard Kinsey’s little press conference in one of the adjoining rooms. The guy I put on Donovan was under direct orders not to lose her, but his commanding officer didn’t think it was necessary to watch her.” Davis sounded just as annoyed as Jack. “I’m beginning to think you’re right. It’s Kinsey. He insisted on all security personnel being at the press conference.”

“Why? Did he think I was going to walk in there and shoot him?” Jack snorted.

“You’d have to get in line. Kinsey is loved by many and loathed by equally as many people. I think it was just a means to an end to give Donovan time to act.”

“And no one saw her leave? Where did she go? And when? After she realized I went to bed? Why didn’t she wait to see who got that drink? She could’ve tried to interview you instead, Paul.” Daniel had mulled this over for some time now.

“The officer who was supposed to watch her reported he couldn’t find her after the press conference. But later, during the cake and happy birthday singing he saw her and her camera guy. He was filming and she seemed to be doing a live report for Inside Access about all the hubbub. I assume her plan was to catch up to you later and by the time she had done a wrap and came looking for you we were both gone.”

“You think the camera man is involved in this, too?” Daniel asked. He had heard Paul ask about him on the phone a moment ago.

“Negative. He didn’t go anywhere near the bar or the gallery, his focus was on the main guests,” Davis said.

Paul lived in a quiet block with refurbished red brick houses. The charm of old buildings combined with new white framed panorama windows and iron wrought railings on large balconies had its own charm. Green ivy plants climbing up some of the home’s walls underlined the impression of this being an old neighborhood turned into upper class housing.

Jack parked in front of Green Willow Drive 409. “Nice place. Which one’s yours?”

“The penthouse.”

“Penthouse, eh? Maybe I should rethink my decision regarding the job,” Jack mused and Daniel remembered the conversation he had observed between Jack and Hammond last night.

“No,” Davis said quietly. “If you and Daniel are seriously… things are a lot more difficult to… conceal… around here. And you’d be working even longer hours than you are at the SGC. Hard to keep up any kind of relationship outside of work.”

“Daniel and I are as serious as it gets.” Jack was looking out the front window, his face blank. “You should know that I don’t do trophy hunting, Davis. Nor do I treat people like possessions. Especially not the ones I… care for more than you’ll ever be able to comprehend.”

The ensuing silence in the car was so thick, Daniel almost felt compelled to open a window to let in some air. At the same time he was probably as blown away at Jack’s words as Davis.

They both had said ‘I love you’ in various ways. It wasn’t something they often put into words, but occasionally it happened.

Just this morning Daniel had bared his soul to Jack in a way he rarely did. There had been moments like this before in their relationship, often under some kind of outside pressure or the desperate need to let the other one know in case they had to say goodbye… Or when they had smoked weed, up on the roof. And after what had happened with Ba’al.

But with the exception of Jack’s family they had never, not even to their closest friends and teammates, come out like this. All members of SG-1 knew. Fraiser knew. But talking about it to anyone openly was totally off limits.

“I… didn’t accuse you of… I didn’t… oh, crap, I did?” Paul’s voice was barely above a raspy whisper.

“Me threatening you at that bar back then might explain where you got the idea from,” Jack said with the same flat voice as before. He appeared totally detached, but he was putting everything on the line here. And although Daniel was positive Paul would never tell on them, even if last night had never happened … a shiver ran down his spine.

“You probably did the right thing back there. One of the reasons I don’t drink much is that I lose any kind of brain to mouth filter once I’m…” Davis reached for the doorhandle, then stopped. “I always knew there was something going on. It was more intuitive than anything else. But I didn’t think it was a real… thing. I thought it was just…”

“The reason why I won’t go to Atlantis for a long-term assignment is that I’m exactly where I want to be. Where I belong.” Neither one of them was comfortable with what was being said here and Jack had already bottom lined it. But Daniel felt he had to address this, too.

“All these years… you’ve been...” Paul’s eyes widened as he was hit by the clue bus. “You are… you’re raising the kid together…” Then he frowned. “Wait. Daniel, LD used to be _you_ , before he was shrunk. Does that mean…”

“It’s complicated,” Daniel hastened to say.

Jack turned in his seat to face Paul. “My son isn’t up for debate. And this conversation ends here.” They locked eyes for a long moment and Daniel felt something settle between them. Something that didn’t require words.

When Jack was looking out the front window again he said, “Let’s keep the lunch date on Tuesday to catch up on the Kinsey thing. Better than doing it over the phone.”

“I’ll only call if there’s an emergency. Leave Donovan and Kinsey to me,” Paul said fiercely. “They won’t get away with this.” With that he took his clothes bag, opened the door and left the car. Before he slammed the door shut, he said, “Thank you. For letting me know. I appreciate it. You didn’t have to do that.”

They watched him enter the house and when the door closed behind him Daniel let out a relieved breath.

“Oyyy,” was all Jack contributed before he put the car in reverse and got them back on the road.

They drove in silence until they had left Davis’ neighborhood. Finally, Jack said, “Hammond’s going to retire next year. He told me they’re going to offer me his position.”

“As head of HWS?”

“Yeah. It has all the bells and whistles. Nice pay raise, a car with a driver, a house in a neighborhood like Davis’.”

“And you declined.” Daniel had gathered as much from the little exchange between Jack and Paul.

“I already have a command. And I like it there. It’s nice and cozy. I’m holed up underneath a mountain with no DC brass coming and going all the time.”

Daniel opened his mouth to ask if Jack was just declining the offer because he felt obligated to keep the command for LD’s sake. And because they would have to venture into a long-distance-relationship if he took the job. But then he decided not to go into this right now. If there was a need to discuss this further, they would once they were home.

As if he had read his thoughts, Jack said, “It’s a no brainer, Daniel. I won’t take the job for the same reasons you won’t go to Atlantis. And because I’ve just gotten used to being in charge of the SGC. Took me long enough to get there. I’m not keen on trying to juggle the whole HWS thing.”

He sounded so spooked that Daniel had to laugh.

“So, Daniel!” Jack made an about face. “What’s our schedule for today?”

“We should head back to the hotel and check out. And then I’ll drive.” He had to grin at Jack’s frown.

“You’re taking this ‘it’s a surprise’ thing very seriously, eh?”

“I do.” And oh, he couldn’t wait until they got there. Until they could turn their backs on DC and leave all this behind for almost two blissful days.

“At least let me know how long it’s gonna take us to get there… wherever there is.”

“Probably two hours, give or take a bit. Probably three if we leave later.”

Jack checked his watch. “Any particular time we have to be there?”

Daniel shook his head. He had made arrangements for a flexible arrival.

“Good. Because I want to take you out. To lunch.”

“Sure, we can have lunch somewhere.”

“No, I mean ‘take you out’ as in… you know, dating.”

“Dating as in…” Daniel fluttered his eyelashes and Jack rolled his eyes at him. “…a Valentine’s date?”

“Yep. With all the appropriate romantic… stuff.”

“Hearts and chocolate? Do I get a card, too?” Daniel laughed at the scowl being sent his way. “What?!”

“Romantic in a guy-kind-of way. Wine, food…”

“Rainbow cake and little pink sugar dildos?” Daniel chuckled. He couldn’t help himself. He just wasn’t into the romance thing. Sure, he loved going out to eat with Jack. But since they couldn’t do anything in public, going out was never romantic and they rarely did candlelight dinners at home either.

“ _Daniel_ … I was thinking candles...”

“Flowers?”

“You’re allergic to flowers.”

“Paul was going to get me paper… ow!” Daniel rubbed his leg and glared. “What the hell was that for? I was kidding!” But he had to admit that bringing up Paul and his rose petals probably wasn’t a good idea, not even for a joke.

Not after what they had just been through.

“I’m trying to do something special here to show my appreciation for you. Could you just go with it and try to enjoy it instead of…” Jack trailed off and bit his lip. “Never mind. Lunch?”

“Sure.”

“Great.”

But of course it wasn’t. And Daniel knew he had just screwed up here, even though he wasn’t entirely sure how. Jack hadn’t seriously suggested they’d go on a real date, right? Aside from the fact that they couldn’t do that… they were way beyond the ‘dating’ stage. And finally… they just didn’t do that. Period.

In the distance the Washington Monument pointed skywards like an admonishing finger.

“Lunch sounds great, really.” Daniel tried to make amends.

Jack’s eyes darted sideways. “I kinda lost my appetite.”

“Are you sulking?”

Jack didn’t answer him. They returned to the DC area and the silence between them built up and stretched to a rare uncomfortable level. Once they had reached the Mayflower they took the elevator and then they stood in front of their rooms, facing each other.

“I’m canceling. We can grab a bite to eat on the way,” Jack said curtly.

“Wait… What’s going on?” Daniel asked, confused. “Why are you… are you mad at me? Because if you are, I’d like to know why?”

“Come over when you’re done packing.”

“Ahh… okay,” Daniel said to the closing door of Jack’s room.

Packing was only a matter of minutes. He had already put away his toiletries and dirty laundry after breakfast. He refused to work himself up over Jack’s little fit in the car. It was probably a delayed reaction over last night or something. They would sort it out once they made it to Virginia and could settle down and relax.

Still… _Romantic Valentine’s date? What the hell?_

Daniel let the conversation in the car replay in his head as he closed his suitcase. Then he sat on the bed and contemplated it for another moment.

When he walked into Jack’s room, his suitcase and carry-on in tow, Jack was just folding his dress blues – now wrapped in a clothes bag from the cleaners – and putting it inside the Flylite.

“You were serious,” Daniel said when he had closed the door. “I thought you were joking.”

Jack closed his suitcase. “Every once in a while I’m actually serious.”

“Look, I’m sorry I made fun of it. But what’s the point? We can’t do it… not like this… anyway. Don’t you think we’ve pushed our luck hard enough already this weekend without going for a lovey-dovey lunch date?”

Jack put his suitcase on the floor with much more force than necessary. “You wouldn’t believe it, but I actually put some _serious_ thought into this.”

“Jack, we can have our own romantic dinner tonight. In private. We can get candles and whatever else you want… Maybe we can find a store selling scented massage oil. There’s a hot tub where we’re going. We’ll get a ton of artificial flower petals at some craft store on our way and put them in the water if you want to do romantic stuff. But a valentine’s date in fancy restaurants? We don’t do this kind of thing.”

“We don’t do this kind of thing because we never get the opportunity to do it. Because it’s too risky. Doesn’t mean I never wanted to do it.”

“You… what?”

“I’m an old fashioned guy. And I never get to properly ask you out.”

“Oh, come on, Jack, this is us you’re talking about. I’m not your prom date or your high school sweetheart.” He almost made the mistake of laughing again, but the look on Jack’s face didn’t invite laughter. Or banter.

“Daniel, I’m a guy beyond fifty. Nothing could be further from my mind than prom dates and high school sweethearts. I’m in an established long term relationship, which is something I never saw in my cards again after Sara left… or after the downsizing. I want to take you out. And I want it to be…”

“Romantic?”

“Well, yeah.” He cocked his head and scowled. “Within reason. Not, you know, icky-sappy.”

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “Define romantic.”

Jack reached out to him. “C’mere.”

Daniel took the offered hands and for the second time today their fingers laced. Jack tugged and he went with the movement until their foreheads touched. “Let me wine and dine you… lunch you… whatever.”

“I’d love to have lunch with you,” Daniel said, still slightly confused. “You know that. What...”

“No, I mean, let me… court you a little.”

“How? And most importantly; where?”

“Trust me?” Jack let go of his hands and wrapped his arms around his middle instead.

“I do. You know that, too.”

“And stop… stop acting like you don’t deserve this. Because you do. We both do. All of it.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself, you’re where you want to be. So am I.”

“I am. I just don’t see what that has to do with… lunch?”

“It’s an opportunity I took because, just once, I want us to do the real thing. I might not be perfect at this or overly creative, but I’m trying here. And if it turns out we hate it we’ll blow the joint and never mention it again. But give it a try, ‘kay?”

“A date.” Daniel murmured. He tried to imagine them in some fancy restaurant, holding hands over the table, gazing into each other’s eyes as they were sipping from their wine glasses. “As in… a romantic date.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Okay, I, uh, have questions.” Daniel looked down at himself. He was wearing anthracite jeans and a burgundy button-down shirt. “Am I underdressed?”

“Nope, casual is fine.” Jack had changed into khaki-colored chinos and a classic white shirt. The shirt was a bit wrinkled, but it still looked great. Daniel had a thing for Jack in a white shirt. Mmm…me too

He spotted Jack’s cream-colored fleece jacket on the bed.

“Did you rent an entire restaurant just for the two of us?”

“Something like that.”

“Ja-ack…” Daniel’s mind started producing all kind of phrases like _We’re not a Disney movie._ But then he just kissed him very softly and when they pulled apart he said, “I’d be honored to be your Valentine’s date.”

“Sweet,” Jack whispered. “I know just the place.”

  
  


The fancy restaurant Daniel had imagined turned out to be a bar somewhere close to Mt Vernon Square, in downtown D.C. A red neon sign next to the door displayed the bar’s name; Off the record.

And it was closed. The windows were shuttered and the sign hanging at the double doors stated as much.

As soon as they had entered the street Jack had been on the phone, talking to the owner, whose name was apparently Andy. When they drove around the next street corner, a garage door opened and they parked in a private space labeled as ‘Off the Record owner’.

“Who’s Andy?” Daniel asked when they entered the building through a plain steel door after pressing a buzzer.

“Old buddy of mine. We served together in Nam.”

It didn’t surprise him in the least that he had never heard of Andy. Jack didn’t share war stories and Daniel never had the desire to hear any. They had enough of their own battle experiences under their belts from their time on SG-1.

They walked a small corridor past a pantry, a walk-in fridge, a kitchen and restrooms. The interior was old, the floor tiles shabby and the restroom doors covered with scribbles left there by guests. A simple wooden door led into the bar.

Daniel had expected a dark room with stale air, a pool table and a dingy floor.

What they stepped into was a well-lit large cabin-style room arranged in warm wood tones of pine and maple. The bar, covering the whole back wall, was well equipped with anything the heart desired. Bottles were neatly lined up on glass shelves softly illuminated by yellow, blue and white lights.

A guy with shaggy blond hair, probably Jack’s age, was wiping the spotless bar top with a white cloth. There was an old jukebox next to the bar and much to Daniel’s amazement it seemed to be in working order. It was currently playing Queens ‘Princes of the Universe’.

He spotted a small stage in a corner and a dance floor in front of it. Another neon sign pointed out that there was ‘Live Music’. Right now, however, stage and dance floor were empty.

The bar was equipped with small wooden tables and chair, old sturdy furniture but the tabletops were all scrubbed clean.

Jack moved further into the room. "Hey, Andy, you don't look a day older than... sixty?"

“O’Neill, you’re still as ugly as the gargoyles up on Notre Dame.” Andy threw his cloth on the bar and came over to meet them. Daniel noticed a slight limp, but that didn’t seem to slow him down. “You must be Doctor Jackson.” Jack’s friend had a firm, warm handshake. He was wearing a sleeveless jeans vest and his arms were covered with tattoos. A dragon. A cross. A purple heart like the one on Jack’s dress blues. “I’m Andy. I own this little shack. But today I’m your waiter.”

“Daniel,” Daniel replied, returning the offered grin. “This place is great.”

“I inherited it from my brother back in the seventies. It helped me a great deal in making the transition from military to civilian life,” Andy said. “It’s good to have a goal to work on. This place was a mess when I took over.”

“I see you still have that clunky jukebox,” Jack pointed out.

“It was in here when I took over, I feel very nostalgic about it. So, Jack… been a couple of years since you stopped by for drinks. And you finally found someone whose willing put up with you. That’s great.”

“Yeah, you know what they say, there’s a nut for every bolt. Hey, how’s Joe?”

Andy’s grin widened. “He’s good. He’s in Paris right now, living the good life. Wine, French cuisine, Moulin Rouge.” He addressed Daniel. “Joe is my partner. We have another bar in Paris so we’re kinda half American, half European, very international. Have you ever been to Paris?”

“No, not yet.” He wondered briefly if that might be fun. Going to Paris on leave, being totally off the grid for a while. Maybe once the kid had left the nest.

“You guys should go. The city of love knows no bounds,” Andy winked and, with a flourishing gesture, motioned for them to follow him.

They left through a plain wooden black door on the other side of the bar and entered another hallway, this one laid out with black carpet. Daniel spotted a reception desk and a small cloakroom. A chandelier with white artificial candles hung from the ceiling. There were three additional doors ahead of them. Each had a gold nameplate on them.

The dining room.

The cocktail room.

The Make a Wish room.

Andy opened the door to the ‘Make a Wish’ room and invited them in with a welcoming wave. “This is where you will have lunch. May you relax, eat and drink to your heart’s desire.”

The first thing Daniel noticed were the dark red and honey-golden flowing drapes covering the walls. He spotted glyphs printed on the red ones in the same golden tone as the plain fabric. The large window was veiled with layers of white gauze to let in the light without allowing prying eyes to see what was going on inside the room.

Large floor cushions in the same tones and patterns as the wall decorations spread out on what appeared to be faux fur rugs in one corner invited cozy snuggling or other activities that came to mind at the sight.

A large chest, covered by ruby-colored organza displayed small gilded Spinxh and pyramid figures.

There were candles on every surface. Wax pyramids sprinkled with fake gold dust; on the chest and on the round table in the middle of the room.

The table was covered with a cloth in the colors of the desert and set with two brass wine goblets, plates, silverware and paper napkins in the same gold tones as the candles. A bottle of red wine had been opened to breathe. Daniel caught a glance at the lable. A red Shiraz.

Andy, who had taken post by the door, cleared his throat. “I hope it’s at least close to what you envisioned for today, Jack. My assistant, Stan, put a lot of effort into this.”

“It’s… very…” Jack trailed off and looked at Daniel with raised eyebrows. “What do you think?”

It was all very makeshift, the decorations and candles probably quickly bought in a dollar store, the fabric on the walls most likely borrowed from some theater props department or found in a cheap Arabic fabric shop and then fixed here with sewing pins. It was the very best one could come up with in the time frame of only one day to prepare…

It was, by far, the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him. And it was also hopelessly tacky.

“I… don’t know what to say.” Daniel turned to look at Andy. “Tell Stan thanks.”

Andy motioned for them to sit at their table. “Gentlemen, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to ‘Off the record’ today. Lunch will be served in a minute, please make yourselves comfortable.”

Daniel wondered what was on the menu. His bet was on steak and burger which was more than fine with him even if it didn’t go with the decor. He looked at Jack who sat down slowly across from him, his face unreadable.

Andy lit the pyramid candles which almost immediately emitted a woody fragrance with just a gentle touch of musk.

Daniel sniffed. “Egyptian amber?”

“I was told Egypt is your field of expertise. And your passion.”

“Well, it’s certainly one of my passions. What else did he tell you?” Daniel asked, shooting Jack a questioning look.

Jack just shrugged. He kept looking around the room as if he was searching for security cameras. Or maybe he was just taking in all the splendor of red and gold.

“No details. Only that this is your first official date.”

Daniel looked back over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone in here. He wasn’t used to this. And after last night he was a little concerned about Jack being so uncharacteristically open about the mere existence of their relationship.

 _Apparently Jack trusts this guy. That should be good enough for you to relax._ Only Jack clearly didn’t look very relaxed either. Not anymore. He kept staring incredulously at the Sphinx and pyramid figurines and the tableware. Then he picked up his napkin and fiddled with it.

Andy gave Daniel a knowing look. “This bar is called Off the Record for a reason. We offer special services here. For couples who want to have a safe place to date but can’t be seen in a gay bar.”

“Military guys,” Daniel concluded.

“All same sex couples are welcome. We offer candlelight dinners, cocktail dates, group dinners for up to six people. Whatever happens in this establishment is off the record. But people usually don’t book our rooms for sexual intercourse. They come here because they want to wine and dine in a real restaurant setting, hold hands or kiss without having to fear consequences.” With a nod at Jack Andy continued. “We only have dinner dates available because we don’t open until six, but when Jack called and asked for a lunch date I was happy to make an exception for you guys.”

“What exactly did he blackmail you with to get special treatment like this?” Daniel was sure there was a story behind this.

Andy snorted and patted his right leg. “I brought home a souvenir from Nam. Got a bit too close and cozy with a grenade. If it wasn’t for Jack here I’d be dead. He carried me all the way back to camp. But, oh boy, do you have any idea what it’s like to be dragged across the jungle with a busted knee and hole the size of a golf ball in your leg?”

“Ouch,” Daniel sympathized with a wince and Andy let out a deep good-humored laugh when he lifted the bottle and poured Daniel a small amount of the dark red wine.

“Our Shiraz is an Egyptian wine from the Al Ahram winery. It has a distinct blackberry and blueberry flavor.”

Daniel took a sip and let it sit in his mouth for a moment, rolled it around his tongue and swallowed. “Wow. This is great stuff.”

Jack let out a relieved huff. “Excellent. Daniel is the expert when it comes to wine. And coffee. When he says it’s good, it’s good.”

Andy filled their glasses. “The mezza will be served shortly. I hope you’re hungry, Daniel.” He put the bottle back down and left with a little bow.

Daniel raised his eyebrows at Jack. “Mezza?”

“Appetizer nibbles…”

“I know what mezza is. It just didn’t expect that here.” But then he hadn’t expected any of this.

“Expect the unexpected and roll with it,” Jack advised him. He took another look around the room and cringed. “Yep. That’s what we should do.”

“Jack?”

“Daniel?”

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. Peachy. You?”

Soft oriental music floated into the room. Daniel was pretty sure it wasn’t coming from the juke box.

Before he could come up with a reply that didn’t come across as being unappreciative Andy returned, carrying a tray with bowls of hummus and a plate with green olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and red onions as well as a bowl of yogurt.

“Blhana wa alshefa,” he said with a horrible accent, telling them to enjoy their food.

Daniel thought it was a nice touch. “Shukran,” he thanked the man for their meal.

“Brag,” Jack muttered once Andy had left.

“If it consoles you, I happen to know your Arabic is much better. But he’s trying. He seems to be a nice guy.”

“Yeah. We kept in touch for a while after we came home, but he had to resign because of his leg.” Jack said. “After I joined the program I came here for drinks a couple of times when I was in DC. It’s a good place. No troublemakers, good beer.”

They raised their goblets and gently clinked them together. “What do people talk about on their first date?” Daniel asked. “I can’t remember having any significant first dates. Sarah and I mostly had take out and talked work related things. Sha’uri and I got married instead of having a date. And the first time… before I got littled, you and I basically went from being friends to lovers one afternoon on the floor of my living room.”

He remembered it all. The awkward talk when Jack had showed up at his apartment. How they had gone to Starbucks for coffee and more awkward talking. Then they had gone back to his place and…

“You said you were gay-curious,” Jack recalled.

“Well, I was.” Daniel shrugged.

“You thought you were cursed… or something. Because everyone you cared for got…”

“...snaked or died, yeah. I remember that.”

“What about Fergus? Not a great first date?” Jack asked.

“Oh, we went out, had dinner. It was nice.” Daniel pursed his lips. He couldn’t even remember where they had gone. The Scotsman had been a decent guy and the couple of months they had spent together had been fun. Fergus didn’t deserve to be so insignificant in hindsight, but there it was.

He frowned. “I can’t even pinpoint when you and I considered ourselves being together again the second time around. Probably when we were,” he wanted to say ‘on Atlantis’ but went with, “on that mission. Or maybe…”

“...when you came home to us.” Jack picked up the bowl with hummus and Daniel held out his plate to be filled. For a moment they focused on the food, which was delicious with just the right spicy touch.

 _No, it was when you took Ba’al’s mark off me._ Daniel recalled how all the pieces of the puzzle had fallen back into place, how the last connection had clicked, how the broken parts of him had been put back together.

How he had truly felt he had come home after that.

He and Jack had such a long history. If Daniel thought about it, Jack was the most important constant in his life. He had always been there after he brought Daniel home from Abydos. They had gone through many rough patches in all those years, but in the end, they had made it together again, against all odds.

 _Because we are meant to be together_ , Daniel thought with a clarity that always gave him mixed feelings. What if they were also meant to keep losing each other over and over again? What if this, too, didn’t last? What if they were – after all – cursed in some warped way?

Jack cocked his head. “What?”

Daniel stomped down his unease, refusing to acknowledge something he couldn’t control. If he had learned one thing, it was to count his blessings and hang on to them as long as possible. This was now. This was real.

“Nothing… it’s just…”

He could do romantic.

Jack had tried to do something special for them today and Daniel was determined to enjoy it as best as he could.

All he really had to do was zone out the weird ambiance and focus on the man before him. He studied the familiar angular features and the chocolate brown eyes. He knew every line etched into that face, every dimple, every nuance of it.

Jack reached for the plate with the olives and with one quick move Daniel captured Jack’s hand in his. Long strong fingers, calloused palms. Large hands. Hands that had killed, pulled the trigger. Hard working, firm hands. But also, soft hands, caressing and gentle. Skilled.

He loved those hands. Loved what they were able to do to his body. How they ignited reactions Daniel had never experienced with anyone else.

Jack froze and tried to pull away with a quick jerk, his eyes immediately assessing the room. Daniel held on, shaking his head. “This was your idea, remember?” He brushed his thumb over Jack’s knuckles.

“I know. It‘s just so…”

There was a knock at the door and even before Andy breezed in they let go and sat up straight, an automatic response drilled into them so deeply they couldn’t shake it.

Jack’s old war buddy placed a jug of water on the table, along with two glasses. “Enjoying your food?”

“Yeah, it’s excellent,” Jack said.

“Absolutely,” Daniel confirmed. It wasn’t a lie.

Andy looked happy enough, told them to have fun and left again.

Jack grimaced. “Oy, this was a bad idea.”

“What? No, no, no, Jack, it was a great idea. It’s just out of our comfort zone, that’s all. The food is great. You picked everything I like.”

Jack shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry. All this…” He waved at the décor. “I asked for something to go with the food but nothing too extreme. I didn’t think he’d go and turn this into Cleopatra’s bed chamber.”

“So, you didn’t specifically ask for an eash al’ahaba?” Daniel looked pointedly at the floor cushion and fur rug arrangement across the room.

“E… what?”

“A love nest.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Jack muttered. “I didn’t ask for anything specific beyond the food choices. And candles. I wanted candles.”

Daniel bit back a laugh.

Jack raised his goblet, studied the purple pharaonic mask on it and put it down again. “Admit it. You hate it. I do.”

“Ah, I think it’s very thoughtful and romantic and…”

“Trashy?”

”It’s very Egyptian. In a very… golden, Arabian nights kind of…”

“Aladdin?”

“Well, Aladdin was part of the Arabian nights tale, yes.”

Jack picked up his goblet again and took a sip. “Oh, yes! Stan must be a huge fan.”

Daniel, who had just been drinking, too, almost choked on his wine. He managed to swallow instead but couldn’t suppress the chuckle. “Oh, what a relief. I was trying to wrap my head around the idea that _you_ specifically ordered this.”

There was a lopsided grin and a shrug. “You know me, I don’t have the decorating gene. My wildest imagination featured scented candles. This tablecloth and…” He picked up the napkin and turned it over. “Where the hell do you get stuff like this anyway?”

“Probably the party supply aisle of a dollar store.” Daniel frowned. “Jack, how much do you have to fork out for this?”

“Uh, that’s classified.”

Jack‘s phone beeped and after taking a look at it, he handed it over the table for Daniel to see. It was a text from LD. Their laptops were clean, no spy software. His message ended with; y _ou’ll get a report from the IT team later, but Sam already told me the SGC system is all clear, too._

“Well, that’s good news,” Daniel said, handing the phone back. There was no active surveillance, at least not on their end. Once the IOA got involved in this – and Daniel knew Woolsey would have to be informed at some point – questioning the SGC’s security- and computer system would be their first step of investigation. It was always good to be one step ahead of the IOA.

Andy returned after a knock on the door, pushing a serving trolley loaded with couscous, grilled vegetables, spiced rice, grilled chicken and lamb and more of the delicious yogurt with fresh garlic and a hint of mint.

“I have to ask.” Despite the weird ambiance of the room Daniel felt his mouth water at the traditional dishes being served. Even after all these years the smell and taste of middle Eastern meals were associated with warmth, family and home. It was something he still carried with him from his early childhood. “The ‘Off the record’ doesn’t strike me as serving middle eastern cuisine… how did you manage to put this together?”

Andy raised both eyebrows. “That, Daniel, is the Chef’s secret.” Then he winked. “But if you’re ever back in town and want more of it try Mama Ayesha Abraham on Calvert Street.”

“You were not supposed to tell him that,” Jack grumbled.

“When I asked Jack what you prefer he said Arabic cuisine and he was very specific about what you like. We take a deal of pride in being very creative when it comes to our dinner dates. Most of the guests we serve don’t have the opportunity to go out as couples, so we want it to be extra special when they do. Sometimes that means we have to order take out.” Andy cleared the table of the empty bowls and plates and replaced them with the main course. “Enjoy.”

“I have to admit that this is an amazing idea,” Daniel said when Andy had left and softly closed the door behind him. “Enabling LGBT military people to have regular dates. Something as simple as going out together as couples.”

“Something everyone else can have wherever they want. Except for people like us. And I tell ya, even if Hayes repeals DADT things won’t get easier. Not for a very long time to come. You can change the rules on paper, but you can’t get it out of people’s heads just like that.”

“I know. But at least the looming court martial issue would be off the table then.”

“If the repeal happens, I hope it will eventually create a safe space for kids like LD. _If_ he makes the same mistake you did and falls for some miserable messed up military guy.”

“Best mistake I ever made,” Daniel said. “I’d do it all over again.”

“Lucky me, huh?” Jack leaned forward, over the table and Daniel met him halfway.

“Is it okay to kiss on your first date?” Daniel teased.

“I heard it’s acceptable if you really like the guy.”

“I guess it’s a go then.”

They moved their goblets out of the way and kissed. They had never kissed in any public place before. Never out on the street, at a restaurant or a café. Never held hands out in the open. Never even hugged anywhere in public… with the exception of the famous space monkey hug in the gate room. But those had been very special circumstances and they hadn’t even been together back then.

There was something unusually shy and chaste about it when their lips first met. Until he felt the tip of Jack’s tongue asking for access and he opened his mouth invitingly.

Somewhere outside a car alarm went off, emitting a series of loud siren sounds.

They reeled back and Daniel felt his pulse sky-rocketing just for a split second before it settled again.

“Well, this is counterproductive,” he muttered.

Jack pushed back his chair and got up. “Let’s get outta here.”

Daniel blinked. “What? Wait… what about all the food?” They couldn’t let all this go to waste. And he felt a pang of guilt, too. Andy and his assistant had created all this on very short notice.

“Doggy bag,” Jack said, already on his way to the door.

“You do the groveling with Andy,” Daniel warned when he followed suit. He knew how much Jack liked to delegate the talking-us-out-of-a-tight-spot part to him.

“I’ll grovel,” Jack promised.

After a bit of groveling to a rather more amused than offended Andy, and leaving a huge tip for Stan, they were back in the car with a bag full of food boxes and on their way to Interstate W66.

Jack looked at Daniel, the shadow of a rueful smile curling his lips. “Okay, we won’t do that again.”

“What? Have lunch together?”

He almost expected to be swatted again, but all he got was a scowl and a muttered, “Very funny.” After a moment of silence Jack said, “Andy has had this dating service going for a long time. I trust that guy, no doubt about it. It’s safe. Thought we’d try it, let our hair down. It just felt…”

“…awkward.”

“A lot more awkward than what we did at Kinsey’s party.” Jack frowned. “What’s wrong with that picture?”

“It’s the whole drugging thing messing with our heads. Like a, uh, minor PTSD or something. It’ll pass.”

But it wasn’t just that. Nor could they blame it all on the weird room décor at the Off the Record. Both had been contributing factors for sure, but the core of it was that they never displayed this kind of affection for one another openly. Hell, they never even kissed in front of Sam and Teal’c.

And in a very warped way it was different to write secretive dirty text messages under the table and egg each other on - unnoticed by anyone else - the way they had done at Kinsey’s party. That had been reckless and stupid, yes. It had also been an exhilarating spur of the moment thing.

But going out and acting like a couple of love birds, even in the semi-private setting provided by Andy’s establishment… showing this kind of intimacy anywhere outside their own safety net of home or the cabin felt wrong on too many levels.

Maybe they were so used to the secrecy that the mere concept of being ‘allowed’ to be a couple in public freaked them out a little. Daniel wondered if they would ever get used to that even if there was a long term DADT repeal.

Probably not. And if he was honest with himself he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to drag this very private part of him and Jack out into the open. It almost felt like sacrilege.

However, he had just the right recipe to get them back into kilter and finish this vacation on a high note.

“You were right,” Jack said, apparently still mulling it over. “That wasn’t us.”

“Well, I won’t say ‘I told you so’, but…”

“Oh, go ahead, be smug about it. Every once in a while you are allowed to be right about something.”

Daniel gave Jack a long look. “You know… I think it might be a while before I feel like subbing again. It seems to go to your head.”

Jack snorted and Daniel was satisfied to see the challenging narrowing of his eyes. “Ah, we’ll see about that. Where’s this great place you’re supposed to take me? Where we’ll have a hot tub and privacy and where I can strip you and keep you naked until we have to leave on Tuesday?”

Daniel pulled a folded sheet of paper from the hip pocket of his jeans and showed it to his lover, holding it just out of reach.

Jack snatched at it, but Daniel pulled back and quickly moved it from his right hand to his left. “Who’s going to keep whom naked?”

“Me, you. Gimme that!”

Daniel let down his side window and stuck his hand out, letting the printed ad flutter in the cold wind. He had the actual booking confirmation saved on his phone.

Jack huffed, “Hey, will you stop goofing around while you’re driving?!”

“Then stop distracting the driver,” Daniel warned.

“Fine, we’ll both stay naked. How’s that?”

“There’s a thought.” Grinning, Daniel closed the window and handed the flyer over to Jack.

“Blue Ridge Getaway, VA,” Jack read aloud. “Mountain Clouds Cabin. Nestled among the trees on the side of a mountain, a natural haven in the middle of nature, incredible breathtaking views. Step off the deck straight into the Shenandoah National Park from this cabin high in the Blue Ridge Mountains with breathtaking panoramic views of the mountains, Shenandoah valley and river below.”

There were pictures, too. Of the cabin and the hot tub out on the deck. And the view. Jack studied it for another moment, a look of pure joy on his face. “We could hike. And maybe ski… says here there’s equipment available.”

“Or maybe we could just do this staying naked thing you were talking about a minute ago,” Daniel suggested.

“We’ll do allll those things,” Jack promised

And Daniel was all ready for that.

TBC - one more to go!

  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> My love and thanks go out to my lovely beta, Char, who has been so quick to go through these. Your cheerleading skills are awesome, hon, I love you!


End file.
